James Syler
Biography
James Syler (b. 1961, Hyde Park, N.Y.) is an American composer and educator.
Mr. Syler was raised in New York and Florida. In 1983 he received a B.M. degree from Northern Illinois University and in 1988 a M.M. degree from the University of Miami. In 1991 he continued his studies at the University of Texas at Austin. He has studied composition privately with composers Michael Colgrass, Alfred Reed and Karl Korte.
Equally at ease with modern and traditional techniques, his compositions have been noted for their lyricism, energy and drama. He has developed a personal style that is eclectic and innovative, yet able to communicate with a variety of audiences. His works have been performed throughout the world.
Awards include the 2016 CBDNA Young Band Composition Contest for his two-percussion concertino Wu Xing, the 1993 National Band Association Composition Award and the 1993 Arnald Gabriel Composition Award for The Hound of Heaven, two grants from the American Music Center in New York, and more than 35 guest composer residencies. To date he has completed more than 30 commissions in chamber, choral, orchestral, and wind ensemble forms.
In 2001 he was the subject of a doctoral dissertation titled The Wind Ensemble Works of James Syler by Dr. Gregg Gasuline. He was been featured in numerous articles and books including A Composer’s Insight: Thoughts, Analysis and Commentary on Contemporary Masterpieces for Wind Band published by Meredith Music. For 15 years, between 1998 and 2013 he owned and operated Ballerbach Music, a music publishing company specializing in contemporary wind music. Notable during that time was working with composer H Owen Reed to republish his long out-of-print band works Spiritual, Missouri Shindig, Renascence, and others.
Since 2001, Mr. Syler has been a lecturer at the University of Texas at San Antonio and the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio where he teaches composition.
Works for Winds
Adaptable Music
- Blue-Bop (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
- Hard Times Come Again No More (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger) (1854/2020)
- Mam-Blu (Flex instrumentation) (2006/2020)
- The Road Not Taken (Flex instrumentation) (1993/2020)
- Scintilla (Flex instrumentation) (2018/2020)
All Wind Works
- Blue-Bop (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
- A Blue Streak (2010)
- Cantique (2012)
- Congo Square (2016)
- Country Bandstand (2002)
- Fantasia on Brother James' Air (2023)
- Fantasia on "Silent Night" (2011)
- Fields (1994)
- Galop (as transcriber) (c. 1909/2013)
- Gearbox (2009)
- Hard Times Come Again No More (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger) (1854/2020)
- The Harmonious Blacksmith (as arranger) (1720/2020)
- Hocus Pocus (2013)
- The Hound of Heaven (1988)
- Hymn for Emmanuel (2015)
- Love Among the Ruins (2016)
- Mam-Blu (Flex instrumentation) (2006/2020)
- Minton's Playhouse (1994)
- O Magnum Mysterium (1996)
- The Road Not Taken (Flex instrumentation) (1993/2020)
- Scintilla (Flex instrumentation) (2018/2020)
- Seasons (2022)
- Silent Shadows to the Last (2017)
- Sinfonietta (2012)
- Storyville (1996)
- Suite Argentine (2020)
- Suite Louisiane (2018)
- Symphony No. 1, “Blue” (1999)
- Symphony No. 2 (2019)
- Tattoo (2005)
- The Temptation of St. Anthony (2014)
- Wu Xing (2016)
Resources
- The Concert Hall: A Listener’s Guide To Appreciating Music - Official EBook
- James Syler, personal correspondence, October 2017
- James Syler website
- James Syler, Wikipedia Accessed 11 March 2019
- McCutchen, Mathew G. (2009) An Examination of the History and Winning Pieces of the National Band Association's Composition Contest: 1977-2008. Florida State University, Doctoral Dissertation.4
- McKeithen, Steve. "Cantique." In Teaching Music through Performance in Band. Volume 12, Compiled and edited by Andrew Trachsel, 349-355. Chicago: GIA Publications, 2021.
- Miles, Richard B. 2000. Teaching Music Through Performance in Band. Volume 3. Chicago: GIA Publications. pp. 500.