Note: A more detailed resumé may be found at: http://www.mnstate.edu/harley/harley.html
A higher-resolution photo (credit: Martin Schwalbe) may be downloaded here. (BW, TIF, 1.5 MB)
A higher-resolution colour photo (credit: Rebecca Kendall) may be downloaded here (JPG, 1.6 MB)
BIO--long (517 words)
James Harley, born 1959, Vernon, B.C., Canada, began studying composition in 1980. Prior to that, he had been active as a pianist, jazz and classical, played percussion, and also studied electroacoustics at Western Washington University. After graduating Magna cum laude in 1982, he took up residence in the UK in order to study composition with Paul Patterson at the Royal Academy of Music. Recipient of grants from the Canada Council and the Leverhulme Trust, among others, Harley remained in London for three years, benefitting from a number of performances and prizes. In 1985, having been awarded the prestigious Mendelssohn Scholarship, which enables British composers to spend a period abroad, he moved to Paris. There, Harley studied aesthetics with Iannis Xenakis, musical acoustics at the Université de Paris, attended seminars at IRCAM and the College de France (Pierre Boulez), and worked extensively with the UPIC computer music system at CEMAMu. While in Paris, Harley won a number of prizes, including two in the 1986 CBC Radio Young Composers Competition in Canada. Then, in 1987, Harley moved to Warsaw, thanks to a Polish Government Scholarship, to spend a year at the Chopin Academy of Music. He attended the composition class of Wlodzimierz Kotonski, participated in the Summer Courses for Young Composers organized by the Polish Society for Contemporary Music, and had a piece premiered at the 1987 Warsaw Autumn Festival. In 1988, Harley returned to North America, taking up doctoral studies at McGill University in Montreal. Under the guidance of Bruce Pennycook and Bo Alphonce, he pursued research there in the domain of computer-aided composition, developing CHAOTICS, compositional software based on functions derived from chaos theory. Harley graduated in 1994 with his D.Mus. in composition, having completed a large-scale thesis work, Cantico Delle Creature, under the supervision of John Rea and Bruce Mather. Over the next year, supported by a major Artist's Grant from the Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Quebec, he composed a series of chamber works, also teaching part-time in the Faculty of Music at McGill University. In 1995, Harley took up a sabbatical replacement position as Assistant Professor at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario. There, he taught composition, electroacoustics, contemporary music theory/literature, and directed the Electronic Music Studio. At the same time, he completed a major commission for the Musiques-Echanges festival in Montreal. In the fall of 1996, Harley moved to Los Angeles, and taught part-time at USC and the California Institute of the Arts. In 1999, he began teaching in Minnesota, directing the Music Technology program at Minnesota State University Moorhead. The university awarded him a Faculty Award for Research/Creative Activity in Fall 2003. In 2004, he became Coordinator of Music Industry and was promoted to Associate Professor. In Summer 2004, Harley took a Leave of Absence from MSUM in order to take up a new position in Digital Music at the University of Guelph. He has continued to compose to various commissions, and has seen a number of his works released on CD. Harley has three children: Marcin Depinski (b. 1979), Ania (b. 1989), and Ian (b. 1993).
BIO--short (261 words)
James Harley is a Canadian composer presently based in Ontario, where he teaches Digital Music at the University of Guelph. He obtained his doctorate in composition at McGill University in 1994, after spending six years composing and studying music in Europe (London, Paris, Warsaw). His music has been awarded prizes in Canada (CBC, New Music Concerts, SOCAN), USA (McKnight), UK (Holland, Huddersfield), France (Bourges, MC2), Poland (Lutoslawski, Serocki), Japan (Irino), and has been performed and broadcast around the world. Some of Harley's compositions are available on disc (Artifact, ATMA, Kappa, McGill, Musicworks, PeP, Soundprints) and his scores are primarily available through the Canadian Music Centre. He has been commissioned by, among others, Codes d'Accès, Continuum, ECM, Hammerhead Consort, Kappa, Kore, Kovalis Duo, Oshawa-Durham Symphony, Open Ears Festival, Polish Society for New Music, SMCQ, Trio Phoenix, Vancouver Bach Choir. He composes music for acoustic forces as well as electroacoustic media, with a particular interest in multi-channel audio. According to Marc Couroux, Harley's music "resides at the intersection of a network of influences rather than proliferating from a central ideology... Harley accepts that the complexity of nature requires a more artistically imaginative interpretation than the simple extension of an Arcadian, placid contemplation... Harley consequently oriented himself towards the theory of chaos, which derives its principles from a much more global study of natural mechanisms than was previously allowed due to hyperspecialization... James Harley defends on the highest level the great Canadian creative tradition, rooted in the natural world, a metaphor for the irreducible complexity of Canada and, by extension, of universal humanity."
BIO--really short (100 words)
James Harley is a Canadian composer presently teaching at the University of Guelph. He obtained his doctorate at McGill University in 1994, after spending six years in Europe. His music has been awarded prizes in Canada, USA, UK, France, Poland, Japan, and has been performed and broadcast around the world. A number of Harley's works are available on disc and his scores are primarily available through the Canadian Music Centre. He has been commissioned by numerous organizations in Canada and elsewhere. He composes music for acoustic forces as well as electroacoustic media, with a particular interest in multi-channel audio.
