4414 Mahan Road, Silver Spring, MD 20906-4774

Phone: (301) 949-4554

Email: jsemark@bellatlantic.net

Instruments: Piano keyboards, vibraharp, symphony chimes, accordion, cheng, rheebab, doumbek, gongs and other percussion.

James is a poet, composer and keyboard player. A native of Detroit, Michigan, he majored in music theory at Wayne University where he studied composition with Dr. Ruth Wylie and Dr. Arnold Salop. In the mid-sixties, he was a founding member of the Detroit Artists Workshop Music Ensemble which performed his jazz-oriented works. During the 1970's, James traveled around the continent reading poetry and performing multimedia programs. Since moving to Maryland in 1984, he has produced and perfomed new music for DC-area theater and dance movement projects, especially for the District of Columbia Arts Center Theater, and The Dance Place. He has also participated in concert music projects in the Baltimore area, including the UnCaged I and II concerts (works of John Cage) and has premiered works with the Baltimore Composers Forum. James recently completed a series of concerts of his works at Borders Books, Bethesda, and is currently writing a cycle of choral music inspired by his visit to Yorkminster Cathedral, England, in 1997.