An active performer, James Helton is equally at home as recitalist, collaborator, and orchestra soloist. He has performed throughout most of the United States, plus Spain and the Czech Republic. Performances during the current season take him to Kentucky, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Texas. He has had the pleasure of working with Pulitzer Prize winning composers George Crumb, William Bolcom, Lucas Foss and Joseph Schwantner in concerts broadcast over public radio and television. For New World Records, Helton collaborated with the Blair Woodwind Quintet on works by composer Michael Kurek (CD 80497-2).  This disc achieved a place on the short list of Grammy nominations for its category in 1996. He recently collaborated on a soon-to-be-released CD project of music by Don Freund, of Indiana University, at the invitation of the composer.

At the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Helton completed the Doctor of Musical Arts in Piano Performance and Literature, with a cognate in Musicology, and the Master of Music degree in Piano Performance/Pedagogy.  At Illinois, Helton won the university’s concerto competition, performing the Liszt E-flat Concerto under the baton of Ian Hobson. He was awarded the Graduate Fellowship in Music; was appointed to the Graduate Piano Trio, the public relations ensemble of the School of Music; and was promoted to a faculty position at the University during the 1998-2000 school years.  He earned the Bachelor of Music with honors in Piano Performance at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Helton’s principal teachers include Ian Hobson and Janice Hodges.  He has performed in master classes of John Browning, John Perry, Ursula Oppens, Maurice Hinson, and Bela Siki, among others. 

James Helton has served on the faculties of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. He has presented workshops and master classes, and has served as an adjudicator for various state and local associations within the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA).  He is a member of the College Music Society, Phi Mu Alpha, Phi Kappa Phi and Pi Kappa Lambda.  He is a member of the Music Teachers National Association and currently serves the East Central Division as Coordinator of the High School Performance Competitions. He serves on the Indiana MTA state board as chairperson of MTNA Collegiate Performance Competitions.  He joined the faculty of Ball State University as an Assistant Professor of Piano in Fall 2000, where his primary duties include teaching studio piano.