Dr. Jim Buckner is Professor of Music at Henderson State University where he teaches trumpet, brass methods, and brass ensembles.  He is the first trumpet professor at Henderson to teach only trumpet.

Buckner previously taught at Illinois State University, Quincy University, Western Carolina University, Truman State University, and West High School in Waterloo, Iowa.  In 2001 he received the Ellis College Fine Arts Faculty Excellence Award in Teaching.

Dr. Buckner received the Bachelor of Music in Instrumental Music Education from Iowa State University, the Master of Music in Trumpet Performance from the University of Michigan, and the Doctor of Music in Trumpet Performance from Northwestern University

Dr. Buckner is principal trumpeter with the Arkansas Brass and the South Arkansas Symphony Orchestra and also performs as first, assistant first, and section trumpeter with the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra.  He is a member of the Arkansas All-Star Big Band and has been a member of Mass Brass and Percussion, the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony Orchestra, the Asheville Symphony Orchestra, and the Quincy Symphony Orchestra and played for the national touring productions of Titanic and Peter Pan.

In September, 1995 he performed a recital at the Moscow International Trumpet Festival.  Dr. Buckner was a member of the Mississippi River Brass Band and was named Outstanding Soloist, Championship Division, at the Fifth Annual North American Brass Band Championships in Columbus, Ohio.  While a member of the Smoky Mountain Brass Band, Dr. Buckner performed at the 1982 World’s Fair (Knoxville, TN), and he was a guest artist at the 1980 Trumpet Conference in St. Louis, Missouri.

Dr. Buckner has been featured with several orchestras, including the South Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, the Illinois Wesleyan University Chamber Orchestra (Shostakovitch Concerto for Piano, Trumpet, and Orchestra), the Quincy Symphony Orchestra (Arutunian Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra), and three times on the Bach Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 (Quincy Symphony Orchestra, Brevard Chamber Orchestra, and Northeast Missouri State University Festival Orchestra).  He has been a featured soloist with school, college, and community bands throughout the South and Midwest.

As a jazz musician, Dr. Buckner performs with the Arkansas All-Star Big Band and has toured with the Harry James Orchestra.