James Fulkerson is an American composer, now living in the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

, of mostly stage, orchestral, chamber, vocal, piano, electroacoustic

Electroacoustic music

Electroacoustic music originated in Western art music during its modern era following the incorporation of electric sound production into compositional practice. The initial developments in electroacoustic music composition during the mid-20th century are associated with the activities of composers...

, and multimedia

Multimedia

Multimedia is media and content that uses a combination of different content forms. The term can be used as a noun or as an adjective describing a medium as having multiple content forms. The term is used in contrast to media which use only rudimentary computer display such as text-only, or...

 works. He is also active as a trombonist.

James Fulkerson received his musical training at Illinois Wesleyan University

Illinois Wesleyan University

Illinois Wesleyan University is an independent undergraduate university located in Bloomington, Illinois. Founded in 1850, the central portion of the present campus was acquired in 1854 with the first building erected in 1856...

, where he earned his BMus in 1967, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...

, where he earned his MMus in 1968. His principal compositional teachers were Herbert Brün

Herbert Brun

Herbert Brün was a composer and pioneer of electronic and computer music. Born in Berlin, Germany, he taught at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from 1962 until he retired, several years before his death.-Career:...

, Kenneth Gaburo

Kenneth Gaburo

-Life:Gaburo was born in Somerville, New Jersey. He served as a professor of music at the University of Illinois, the University of California, San Diego, and the University of Iowa. His notable students include James Tenney and Allen Strange...

, Lejaren Hiller

Lejaren Hiller

Lejaren Arthur Hiller was an American composer. In 1957 he collaborated on the first significant computer music composition, Illiac Suite, with Leonard Issacson. It was his fourth string quartet. In 1958 he founded the Experimental Music Studio at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign...

, Ben Johnston

Ben Johnston

Benjamin Burwell Johnston, Jr. is a composer of contemporary music in the just intonation system.-Johnston's music:...

, and Salvatore Martirano

Salvatore Martirano

Salvatore Giovanni Martirano was an American composer of contemporary classical music.Born in Yonkers, New York, he taught for many years at the University of Illinois...

 and his principal trombone teachers were Carmine Caruso and John Silber. He also studied with Ernst Giehl, Robert Gray, Edward Kleinhammer, Donald Miller, and Donald Reinhardt.

As a trombonist, he is esteemed for his performances of experimental music

Experimental music

Experimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-20th century, applied particularly in North America to music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...

. More than 200 works have been composed for him, including two by John Cage

John Cage

John Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde...

. He has recorded for the Attacca Babel, Deutsche Grammophon, Etcetera, Lovely Music, Mode, IRIDA Records

IRIDA Records

IRIDA Records was an American classical music record label focusing particularly on contemporary classical music. It was established by Jerry Hunt in 1979, and was based in Canton, Texas. The label released at least seven sound recordings featuring works by Hunt, James Fulkerson, Larry Austin,...

 and Nonesuch labels. In addition, he founded the Barton Workshop in Amsterdam

Amsterdam

Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

 in 1989, an ensemble whose goal is to perform works on the leading edge of contemporary music, including some that are not notated, and has since served as its director and trombonist. Barton collaborated with many composers, including Nicolas Collins

Nicolas Collins

Nicolas Collins is a composer of mostly electronic music and former student of Alvin Lucier. He received a B.A. and M.A...

, Frank Denyer

Frank Denyer

Frank Denyer is a composer. His music uses a combination of conventional instruments and new, unusual, and structurally modified instruments. Partly due to his studies of non-Western music, much of Denyer's music is microtonal....

, Alvin Lucier

Alvin Lucier

Alvin Lucier is an American composer of experimental music and sound installations that explore acoustic phenomena and auditory perception. A long-time music professor at Wesleyan University, Lucier was a member of the influential Sonic Arts Union, which included Robert Ashley, David Behrman, and...

, and Christian Wolff

Christian Wolff (composer)

Christian G. Wolff is an American composer of experimental classical music.-Biography:Wolff was born in Nice in France to German literary publishers Helen and Kurt Wolff, who had published works by Franz Kafka, Robert Musil, and Walter Benjamin. After relocating to the U.S...

. It also given premières of works by Henryk Mikołaj Górecki

Henryk Górecki

Henryk Mikołaj Górecki was a composer of contemporary classical music. He studied at the State Higher School of Music in Katowice between 1955 and 1960. In 1968, he joined the faculty and rose to provost before resigning in 1979. Górecki became a leading figure of the Polish avant-garde during...

, Jerry Hunt

Jerry Hunt

Jerry Hunt was an American composer who created works using live electronics partly controlled by his ritualistic performance techniques, influenced by his interest in the occult. He committed suicide in response to terminal cancer...

, Ernstalbrecht Stiebler

Ernstalbrecht Stiebler

Ernstalbrecht Stiebler is a German composer of mostly chamber, choral, piano, and organ works . His work has "three principal concerns: sonority, rhythm, and duration" leading "to a large and varied body of work" ....

, and Galina Ustvolskaya

Galina Ustvolskaya

Galina Ivanovna Ustvolskaya, also Ustwolskaja or Oustvolskaia was a Russian composer of classical music.-Early years:From 1937 to 1947 she studied at the college attached to the Leningrad Conservatory . She subsequently became a postgraduate student and taught composition at the college...

.

External links

• The Ecstasy of the Moment, essay by Fulkerson and Frank Denyer
  Frank Denyer
  Frank Denyer is a composer. His music uses a combination of conventional instruments and new, unusual, and structurally modified instruments. Partly due to his studies of non-Western music, much of Denyer's music is microtonal....
  
  
• James Fulkerson at The Living Composers Project
• James Fulkerson at Donemus (Publisher)