Romig, James

James Romig

Biography

Born: 1971

Country: Long Beach Ca - USA

Studies: University of Iowa (BM, MA) and Rutgers University (PhD)

Teachers: Charles Wuorinen, Milton Babbitt

Website: https://www.jamesromig.com

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James Romig endeavors to create intricate musical compositions in which isomorphic designs exert influence on both small-scale iteration and large-scale structure, obscuring boundaries between content and form. Webs of overlapping systems generate multivalent sonic environments that invite listeners to become enmeshed in a dreamlike intermingling of past, present, and future. Critics have described his work as “rapturous, slow-moving beauty” (San Francisco Chronicle), “developing with the naturalness of breathing” (The New Yorker), and “profoundly meditative… haunting” (The Wire). His Still, for solo piano, was a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize. The Complexity of Distance, composed in 2020 for electric guitarist Mike Scheidt (of the venerable doom metal band YOB), reached #8 on the Billboard classical crossover chart and inspired Seattle's Holy Mountain Brewing to create a namesake beer in its honor. Romig is a two-time Copland House award recipient and has served as artist-in-residence at national parks including Everglades, Grand Canyon, and Petrified Forest. Guest composer presentations include visits to the Eastman School of Music, the Cincinnati Conservatory, SUNY Buffalo, the Clyfford Still Museum, and the American Academy in Rome. His scores are published by Parallax Music Press, and recordings have been released by New World Records, Edition Wandelweiser, Sawyer Editions, Relapse Records, and Perspectives of New Music. Romig’s music has been performed in 37 countries and 49 states by notable performers such as the Quad City Symphony Orchestra, Hypercube, JACK, Talujon, Louis Goldstein, Craig Hultgren, Taka Kigawa, Ashlee Mack, John McMurtery, Doug Perkins, Matt Sargent, Keiko Shichijo, and Harvey Sollberger. His primary teachers were Charles Wuorinen and Milton Babbitt, and he holds degrees from the University of Iowa (BM, MA) and Rutgers University (PhD). He has been on faculty at Western Illinois University since 2002, and in 2023 was elected to the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (GRAMMY). -->

Works for Percussion

A Circle With Many Centers (2023) for three vibraphones
A Circle With No Circumference (2025) for three vibraphones
A Slightly Evil Machine (2005) for multi-percussion
Block (1996) for multi-percussion
Dorsia (2013) for harp and vibraphone
The Frame Problem (2003) for percussion trio
Islands That Never Were (2003) for vibraphone and piano
Leaning from the Steep Slope (1995) for marimba
The Line Begins to Blur (2014) for vibraphone and piano
Moving Pictures in Frames (2018) for percussion trio
Onomatopieces (2017) for multi-percussion
Out Of Frame (2012) for marimba trio
Paper-knife (1998) for glockenspiel
Parallax (1991) for percussion quartet
Percussion Concert (Romig) - percussion soloist and orchestra
Petrified Spaces / Spaces Petrified (2019) for alto saxophone and vibraphone
Recall Coordinator (2008) for flute and vibraphone
Second Vibraphone Sonata (1999) - Vibraphone
Sonnet 4 (2002) for marimba
Sonnet 7 (2005) for steel pan
Spaces (2021) for vibraphone
Vibraphone Sonata (1997) - Vibraphone