James Orville Fulkerson (born July 2, 1945, in

Streator Streator is a city in LaSalle County, Illinois, LaSalle and Livingston County, Illinois, Livingston counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. The city is situated on the Vermilion River (Illinois River tributary), Vermilion River approximately so ...

, Illinois) is an American composer, now living in the Netherlands, of mostly stage, orchestral, chamber, vocal, piano, electroacoustic, and multimedia works. He is also active as a trombonist. James Fulkerson received his musical training at Illinois Wesleyan University, where he earned his BMus in 1967, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he earned his MMus in 1968. His principal compositional teachers were Herbert Brün, Kenneth Gaburo,

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

, Ben Johnston, and Salvatore Martirano 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 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 non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading fi ...

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

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 featur ...

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

, Frank Denyer,

Alvin Lucier Alvin Augustus Lucier Jr. (May 14, 1931 – December 1, 2021) was an American composer of experimental music and sound installations that explore acoustic phenomena and auditory perception. A long-time music professor at Wesleyan University in Mi ...

, Philip Corner, and Christian Wolff. It also has given premières of works by Henryk Mikołaj Górecki, Jerry Hunt,

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 "t ...

, and

Galina Ustvolskaya Galina Ivanovna Ustvolskaya (russian: Гали́на Ива́новна Уство́льская , 17 June 1919 – 22 December 2006), was a Russian composer of classical music. Early years Born in Petrograd, Ustvolskaya studied from 1937 to 1 ...

External links

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The Ecstasy of the Moment
essay by Fulkerson and Frank Denyer
James Fulkerson at The Living Composers ProjectJames Fulkerson at Donemus (Publisher)
{{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