James Thatcher has spent decades as principal horn in Hollywood’s leading movie studios, and holds the enviable position of being the favored first horn for multiple-Oscar-winning composer John Williams. Thatcher has also worked with an extraordinary list of composers that includes James Horner, Jerry Goldsmith, James Newton Howard, Alan Menken, Randy Newman, John Barry, Maurice Jarre and Alan Silvestri.
A recipient of the prestigious Most Valuable Player Award from the National Association of Recording Arts and Sciences, James Thatcher is arguably the most often heard horn player in the world, performing on 70 to 80 films per year for the last 20 years. As of 2020, he had participated in 291 movies nominated for Academy Awards—the most of any musician in history!
Thatcher’s expert Horn playing can be heard in Always, Jurassic Park, The Lost World, Sleepers (in which he received an on-screen credit), Nixon, Schindler’s List, JFK, Sabrina, Home Alone, Rosewood, Seven Years in Tibet and The Patriot as well as the fanfare for the 1992 Olympics. He can also be heard in the tracks to Glory, The Rocketeer, Field of Dreams, Monster House, X-Men: The Last Stand, Robots, Spider-Man 3, Ice Age, Polar Express, Beowulf, Dances with Wolves, Toy Story, Cars, Maverick, Apollo 13, Forrest Gump, Titanic, Pearl Harbor, Constantine, National Treasure, Transformers, The Simpsons Movie, Night at the Museum, Dinosaur, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, King Kong, Signs, Lady in the Water, Peter Pan, First Knight, Hook as well as Independence Day, and the Star Trek films. In 2010, Thatcher was principal horn on James Newton Howard’s soundtrack of The Last Airbender directed by M. Night Shyamalan.
Mr. Thatcher began his professional career at just 16 years old, studying and performing in Mexico City with his uncle, Gerald Thatcher, former principal hornist with the National Symphony of Mexico. Subsequent instructors have included Fred Fox, Don Peterson, Thomas Greer, Wendell Hoss, James Decker, Vincent DeRosa and master classes with Hermann Baumann. He also earned a bachelor’s degree at Brigham Young University. Thatcher has been a member of the Phoenix Symphony, the Utah Symphony, the Pacific Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Thatcher is also a former faculty member the USC Thornton School of Music as the co-professor of Horn.
“I treasure the many years of our collaboration. Through those years, you consistently brought color, imagination, and life to every note that I’ve been privileged to ask you to play. Musically and artistically, I will always be in your debt.”
— John Williams
Click HERE to enjoy a selection of James Thatcher’s movie music.
