Meet Our Talented Graduate, James Wenzel

James Wenzel counts Bon Iver, Panic at the Disco and Patrick Stump regulars on his music playlist. Wenzel, now a freshman majoring in music at Tulane University, is exploring a lot of different genres as well. “I do appreciate jazz and will check out an open mic tomorrow,” he recently said in an interview.

Wenzel started learning the bass at New Mozart at 12 years old and moved onto the acoustic guitar a year later. “It was great, extremely professional yet laid back,” Wenzel says of his music experience. “Everything I learned about music, starting from the basics, was at New Mozart,” Wenzel added. Teachers Justin & Vincent were his guitar teachers and were “really helpful with technique and profoundly supportive of my songwriting and playing. They were never imposing but helped you do what you wanted to do.”

A talented musician in his own right, he records and produces his own music. He has his hands in a few bands – The Alexander, Ratherbright and Hundred Grand Brand. In his spare time, you can also find him listening to Frank Sinatra, David Vertefi and Childish Bambino.