Dorothy James (1 December 1901 – 1 December 1982) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

music educator and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

. James was born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, and graduated from the Chicago Musical College and the

American Conservatory of Music The American Conservatory of Music (ACM) was a major American school of music founded in Chicago in 1886 by John James Hattstaedt (1851–1931). The conservatory was incorporated as an Illinois non-profit corporation. It developed the Conservato ...

, where she studied with

Louis Gruenberg Louis Gruenberg ( ; June 10, 1964) was a Russian-born American pianist and prolific composer, especially of operas. An early champion of Schoenberg and other contemporary composers, he was also a highly respected Oscar-nominated film composer in Ho ...

for composition and Adolph Weidig for counterpoint. She continued her studies with

Howard Hanson Howard Harold Hanson (October 28, 1896 – February 26, 1981)''The New York Times'' – Obituaries. Harold C. Schonberg. February 28, 1981 p. 1011/ref> was an American composer, conductor, educator, music theorist, and champion of American class ...

at Eastman School of Music,

Healey Willan James Healey Willan (12 October 1880 – 16 February 1968) was an Anglo-Canadian organist and composer. He composed more than 800 works including operas, symphonies, chamber music, a concerto, and pieces for band, orchestra, organ, and ...

at the Toronto Conservatory, and

Ernst Krenek Ernst Heinrich Krenek (, 23 August 1900 – 22 December 1991) was an Austrian, later American, composer of Czech origin. He explored atonality and other modern styles and wrote a number of books, including ''Music Here and Now'' (1939), a study ...

at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

. After completing her studies, she took a position in 1927 teaching music at

Eastern Michigan University Eastern Michigan University (EMU, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern), is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School, the school was the fourth normal school established in the United Sta ...

, then Michigan State Normal College, where she worked until retiring in 1968. She was awarded an honorary doctorate from the school in 1971.

Works

James composed works for orchestra, chamber ensemble, solo instrument and voice. She also composed an opera and a number of song. Selected works include: *''Three Symphonic Fragments'' (1931) for orchestra *''Mutability'' (Text: Percy Bysshe Shelley) *''Paola and Francesca'' (1930–34) opera *''The Jumblies'' (Text: Edward Lear) 1935)Song listing
/ref> *''Paul Bunyan'' (1938) *''Motif'' (1970) *''Patterns'' (1971)

References

1901 births 1982 deaths 20th-century classical composers American music educators American women music educators American opera composers American classical composers American Conservatory of Music alumni Eastman School of Music alumni The Royal Conservatory of Music alumni University of Michigan alumni Eastern Michigan University faculty American women opera composers 20th-century American composers 20th-century American women composers American women academics {{US-composer-20thC-stub