Professor Ifor James (30 August 1931 – 23 December 2004) was a horn player and teacher, numbering among his pupils many future Principal Horns and horn professors at British music schools. James was born in Carlisle, England; his father was a noted cornet player and his mother a famous soprano, Ena Mitchell. He began playing cornet in a brass band at age four and by seven he was playing paying gigs as a trumpeter. He also played the organ and was assistant organist in Carlisle Cathedral. Taking up the horn in 1951, he studied first privately and then under Aubrey Brain at the Royal Academy of Music. His professional horn playing career began with the Halle Orchestra from 1953 to 1955, then the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra from 1955 to 1961, and was much in demand for chamber reci