James May (b. 1994, Pittsburgh, PA) is a composer, improviser, sound artist, and photographer. He’s interested in the perceptual gaps of field recordings, the negotiated relationality of improvisation, and the emergent listening that we orient around as a result. His work builds on unfurling, fragile spaces, unpredictable systems in which performers and listeners can dwell. He combines approaches such as field recordings, improvisation environments, live electronics, notated scores, extended vocal technique, and text, often inspired by the natural world or other art forms—especially film photography and literature. James has published writing in Sound American and RTÉ Culture, and was a 2024 Ucross Artist in Residence.
James has collaborated on performances and recordings with Ekmeles, Longleash, Re:Duo, Versipel New Music, Apply Triangle, Hypercube, Chamber Choir Ireland and Paul Hillier, Stephanie Lamprea, Will Yager, Jamie Monck, JACK Quartet, Echéa Quartet, the San Francisco Choral Artists, and the University of Louisville Orchestra and Collegiate Chorale. He was winner of the 2024 NewMusicMosaic Call for Collaborators, the 2019 Seán Ó Riada Composition Contest, the 2019 West Cork Chamber Music Festival Contest, and the San Francisco Choral Artists’ 2017 New Voices Project. His work has also been programmed and recognized by the Sound + Environment Symposium, International Computer Music Conference (ICMC), MISE-EN Festival, Birdfoot Festival, Omaha Under the Radar, OhMyEars, BRACE New Music Choir, New Music on the Bayou, and the Institute for Choral Creativity. He’s an active free improviser, and has collaborated on interdisciplinary projects with studio artist Cat Gambel. He’s performed as a bass with New Dublin Voices (IRE), the Louisville Chamber Choir and the University of Louisville Chorale (KY), and the Wooster Chorus (OH), and as a member of theatrical-performance trio AmiEnsemble.
James is completing a PhD in Music and Multimedia Composition at Brown University. He was one of 12 recipients of the 2018-19 U.S.-Ireland Alliance Scholarship, funding an MA in Experimental Sound Practice at University College Cork where he studied with John Godfrey, Jeff Weeter, and Karen Power. He previously studied with Steve Rouse and Kimcherie Lloyd as a Bomhard Fellow at the University of Louisville, and Jack Gallagher and Lisa Wong at The College of Wooster.