jamesogburn.com - Biography

James Ogburn (b. 1974) grew up in the scenic Cascade Mountains of Washington State. A prolific composer, James has studied composition with Mark Polishook, David Asplin, Woiciek Widlak, Marek Choloniewski, Eric Flesher, Roger Zahab, Amy Williams, Eric Moe, and Matthew Rosenblum . In addition, James has studied piano with John Pickett and Matthew Gillespie.

After completing a B.M. in Composition and Theory (2004) at Central Washington University, he moved to Pittsburgh, Pa where he received a Master of Arts (2006) and a Ph.D.(2009) in Composition and Theory from the University of Pittsburgh.

The subject of his dissertation, entitled “Conflicting Lines, Cohesive Structures: Multiple-Directed Linearity in Witold Lutoslawski’s Third Symphony,” has been presented at conferences in Pittsburgh and Fairfax, VA. As Assistant Conductor of ALIA MUSICA Pittsburgh, James has spent the past few years actively involved in the performance of 'new music' and standard repertoire. Recently, James was appointed Lecturer of Composition and Theory at Mahidol University in Bangkok, Thailand.

His works have been publicly read and performed by the American Composers Orchestra, the Central Washington University Orchestra, The Krakow Academy Quartet, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Flux Quartet, red fish blue fish percussion ensemble, IonSound Project, and ALIA MUSICA Pittsburgh among others.

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