Jim Achilles

Born to a professional jazz musician and a teacher, Mr. Achilles began performing on stage at age 5. By age 12 he had sung professionally for children’s recordings in Los Angeles and performed extensively singing jazz with his father in concerts across America. He adapted quickly to other roles on stage—dramas, musicals, and even working as a magician throughout high school and college. In the mean time he picked up the trombone and the guitar and graduated from CSUSB with a BA in music education.

As a director and educator, Mr. Achilles has led choirs of all ages and church worship music programs throughout California working with a wide variety of singers and musicians in places as far away as Bashkortostan and Cape Town.

He loves songs and performances that display unique creativity and high emotional impact—that, and stuff that’s just plain funny and entertaining. He has a firm belief that it’s not only possible to entertain audiences without dragging them through the mud, it’s the best way.

Outside of his school responsibilities. Mr. Achilles regularly performs in other venues. He leads two bands: Too Phat Feat (pop, jazz, standards, and blues) and Idle Fret (Jazz).  He can be seen on stage at the Acting Company in Yuba City, or with the Yuba Sutter Symphony. He also performs as a solo singer/guitarist throughout Northern California. His personal music page is www.jimachilles.com. 

One of Mr. Achilles' greatest passions is the A-T Children’s Project (www.atcp.org/jimachilles), an organization that raises funds to find a cure for the rare disease ataxia-telangiectasia. His daughter Cathryn has this genetic disorder. Together they participate yearly in fundraising projects. Every Labor Day weekend, Mr. Achilles runs the Disneyland Half Marathon as a sponsored runner for the ATCP.