James McKay maintains an active schedule as a bassoonist, conductor, acoustic researcher, university professor and adjudicator. He appears on over a dozen recordings with artists including James Campbell, James Sommerville, Anton Kuerti and Steven Staryk and with ensembles including the Festival of the Sound, the Amadeus Ensemble, and the Contemporary Chamber Players of Chicago. He is frequently featured as a soloist or conductor in broadcast concerts on CBC and NPR and in many North American music festivals. He is a founding member of the York Winds, Triptych, and the Poulenc Ensemble and has toured as a soloist, chamber musician and conductor in Canada, the United States, Japan and Europe. His book, The Bassoon Reed Manual, which details Lou Skinner’s theories and practise of bassoon reed making, was published by Indiana University Press in 2000. He has been the Music Director of Symphony Hamilton since 1994.

Prof. McKay was the Chair of the Department of Music Performance Studies in the Don Wright Faculty of Music at the University of Western Ontario, and the Director of the Reverberation and Acoustics in Performance Studio and lab.