Cor Strength
Having enjoyed a phenomenally diverse musical career, Jim's current mission is to help others discover and explore their own musical core. Conducting, teaching, and coaching at numerous universities and in multiple countries has only enhanced his depth of knowledge, and with that the desire to share this knowledge with others. Based in Los Angeles but traveling to educate and perform almost half of each year, Jim is always enthusiastic about finding musicians to guide, advise, and mentor.
About Jim
Jim Thatcher has the enviable position of being principal horn on countless Oscar-winning movies. Jim’s playing has been featured repeatedly by composer John Williams in such films as Always, Jurassic Park, The Lost World, Sleepers, Nixon, Schindler’s List, JFK, Sabrina, Home Alone, Rosewood, Seven Years in Tibet and The Patriot.
He has also worked regularly with other Hollywood icons such as Jerry Goldsmith, James Newton Howard, Randy Newman, John Barry, James Horner and Alan Silvestri.
Jim can be heard on nearly 3,000 soundtracks, including Glory, Cocoon, The Rocketeer, Field of Dreams, Monster House, X-Men: The Last Stand, Robots, Spider-Man 3, Ice Age, The Polar Express, Beowulf, Dances with Wolves, the entire Toy Story series, Cars, Maverick, Apollo 13, Forrest Gump, Titanic, Pearl Harbor, National Treasure, Transformers, The Simpsons Movie, Night at the Museum, Dinosaur, King Kong, Signs, Lady in the Water, Peter Pan, First Knight, Hook, Independence Day and the Star Trek films.
Jim began his professional career at age 16, playing and studying in Mexico City with his uncle, Gerald Thatcher, the former principal hornist with the National Symphony of Mexico. Subsequent teachers have included Fred Fox, Don Peterson, Wendell Hoss, James Decker and Vincent DeRosa, as well as masterclasses with Hermann Baumann. During his career, Jim has been a member of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Pacific Symphony, Utah Symphony and Phoenix Symphony.
Jim is currently principal horn of both Pasadena Symphony and New West Symphony, but he is principally considered a studio player. He is not only a recipient of the Most Valuable Player Award from the National Association of Recording Arts and Sciences, but arguably the most often heard horn player in the world due to his performances on some 70 to 80 films per year for the last several decades.
In addition to conducting, coaching, masterclasses and private teaching, Jim is on faculty at Azusa Pacific University as well as California State University, Long Beach.