Always an active performer, James' recent concert schedule has included engagements at the Oberlin Conservatory, Peabody Conservatory, the Cleveland Institute of Music, numerous American guitar societies, Piccolo Spoleto, and the Stetson International Guitar Workshop. Dr. James has served in the Artists-in-Residence program of the State of North Carolina, and as a touring artist for the Southern Arts Federation and the Arizona Commission on the Arts. He frequently serves as a judge for important guitar competitions, including such events as the Guitar Foundation of America International Solo Guitar Competition and the GOLD Competition at Oberlin Conservatory. As a radio recitalist, James has been featured on National Public Radio's Performance Today, as well as special broadcasts on the major classical stations of Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York. His critically acclaimed CD of Italian Romantic solo guitar music performed on period guitars was recently followed by the release of a duo CD with Italian guitarist Pasquale Rucco, Early Romantic Music for Two Guitars. Both discs are on the Cala Vista label. Douglas James holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Arizona, where he studied guitar with Thomas Patterson. Dr. James is currently Director of Guitar Studies and Appalachian Guitar Fest at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina.

The Duo of Pasquale Rucco and Douglas James specializes in the guitar literature of the early 19th century performed on authentic instruments of the period. The two first met and became friends at guitar festivals in northern Italy during the early 1990's. They have now been performing together for over ten years, charming audiences worldwide with their interpretations of music from the first true "golden age" of the guitar.

The Duo's repertoire features some of the most famous of the early 19th century guitar duo masterpeices as well as newly discovered gems. Their concert programs frequently   include works by the more familiar composers such as Carulli, Giuliani and Sor combined with their lesser known contemporaries including Filipo Gragnani, François de Fossa, Antoine Baron de Barcó, Frederic Spina, and Antoine de Lloyer. Their debut CD featured works by Gragnani, Fossa and Barcó as well as Giuliani's arrangements of Rossini's popular overtures to Il Barbiere di Siviglia and La Gazza Ladra. This critically acclaimed disc was recently followed by A Night at the Opera , an all-Rossini recording featuring 19 th century arrangements of popular opera overtures and the famous La Danza tarantella.

Rucco and James are internationally recognized authorities in the early Romantic style. Combining an historically informed approach with world-class musicianship, they play exclusively on authentic 19 th century guitars. Recent seasons have included concerts throughout the United States, Italy, and Austria.  Rucco and James have performed for such prestigious venues as the Oberlin Conservatory, the Cleveland Institute of Music, Early Music Houston, and the Stetson International Guitar Summer Workshop.  In the U.S. they have also presented concerts and masterclasses for universities and guitar societies in Georgia, Florida, Texas, Tennessee, Virginia, Mississippi, New Mexico, Ohio, and North and South Carolina.

The Italian guitarist Pasquale Rucco is the winner of several European guitar competitions, including the 1989 Arturo Toscannini Solo Guitar Competition for the performance of 19thc. music.  Since then he has performed regularly in Europe and the United States, both as a soloist and chamber musician specializing in the 19thc. literature played on period instruments.   Pasquale Rucco is also the founding director of "A.C.I.F.," a consortium of music academies operating in the greater Naples region.