James Orville Fulkerson (born July 2, 1945, in

Streator Streator is a city in LaSalle and Livingston counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. The city is situated on the Vermilion River approximately southwest of Chicago in the prairie and farm land of north-central Illinois. As of the 2020 cens ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

) is an American composer, now living in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

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

multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms, such as Text (literary theory), writing, Sound, audio, images, animations, or video, into a single presentation. T ...

works. He is also active as a

trombonist The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the air column inside the instrument to ...

Education

James Fulkerson received his musical training at

Illinois Wesleyan University Illinois Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college in Bloomington, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1850, the central portion of the present campus was acquired in 1854 with the first building erected in 1856. History The in ...

, where he earned his

BMus A Bachelor of Music (BMus; sometimes conferred as Bachelor of Musical Arts) is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of a program of study in music. The degree may be awarded for performance, music ed ...

in 1967, and the

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United States. Established in 1867, it is the f ...

, where he earned his

MMus The Master of Music (MM or MMus) is, as an academic title, the first graduate degree in music awarded by universities and conservatories. The MM combines advanced studies in an applied area of specialization (usually performance in singing or i ...

in 1968. His principal compositional teachers were

Herbert Brün Herbert Brün (July 9, 1918 – November 6, 2000) was a composer, pioneer of electronic and computer music, and cybernetician. Born in Berlin, Germany, he taught at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from 1962 until he retired, several ...

Kenneth Gaburo Kenneth Louis Gaburo (July 5, 1926 – January 26, 1993) was an American composer. 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 Un ...

Lejaren Hiller Lejaren Arthur Hiller Jr. (February 23, 1924, New York City – January 26, 1994, Buffalo, New York)Lejaren ...

, Ben Johnston, and

Salvatore Martirano Salvatore Giovanni Martirano (January 12, 1927 – November 17, 1995) was an American composer of contemporary classical music. Born in Yonkers, New York, he taught for many years at the University of Illinois. He also worked in electronic music an ...

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.

Career

As a trombonist, he is esteemed for his performances of

experimental music Experimental music is a general label for any music or music genre that pushes existing boundaries and genre definitions. Experimental compositional practice is defined broadly by exploratory sensibilities radically opposed to, and questioning of, ...

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

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and Extended technique, non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one ...

. He has recorded for the Attacca Babel, Deutsche Grammophon, Etcetera, Lovely Music, Mode, IRIDA Records and Nonesuch labels. In addition, he founded the Barton Workshop in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

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 (born March 26, 1954, in New York City) is a composer of mostly electronic music, a sound artist and writer. He received his BA and MA from Wesleyan University, and his PhD from the University of East Anglia. Upon graduating from ...

Frank Denyer Frank Denyer (born April 12, 1943, in London) 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 ...

Alvin Lucier Alvin Augustus Lucier Jr. (May 14, 1931 – December 1, 2021) was an American experimental composer and sound artist. A long-time music professor at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, Lucier was a member of the influential Sonic Ar ...

, Philip Corner, and Christian Wolff. It also has given premières of works by

Henryk Mikołaj Górecki Henryk may refer to: * Henryk (given name) * Henryk, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, a village in south-central Poland * Henryk Glacier, an Antarctic glacier * Henryk JanikowskiSoccer Player (polish National) See also * Henryk Batuta hoax, an int ...

Jerry Hunt Jerry Edward Hunt (November 30, 1943 – November 27, 1993) was an American composer who created works using live electronics partly controlled by his ritualistic performance techniques which were influenced by his interest in the occult. He was ...

Ernstalbrecht Stiebler Ernstalbrecht Stiebler (29 March 1934 – 7 June 2024) was a German composer of mostly chamber, choral, piano, and organ works in minimalist or reductionist style. His work has "three principal concerns: sonority, rhythm, and duration" leading "to ...

, and

Galina Ustvolskaya Galina Ivanovna Ustvolskaya ( ) (17 June 1919 – 22 December 2006), was a Russian composer of classical music. Known as 'the lady with the hammer', her music has been described as demanding "everything from the performer", uncompromising in h ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fulkerson, James 1945 births Living people American male composers 21st-century American composers Illinois Wesleyan University alumni University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign School of Music alumni 21st-century American male musicians FMR Records artists