Biography

James Paul Sain (b. 1959), a native of San Diego, California, is Professor of Music at the University of Florida where he teaches acoustic and electroacoustic music composition as well as music theory. He is Composition, Theory and Technology Co-Chair and the Director of Electroacoustic Music. He founded and directed the internationally acclaimed Florida Electroacoustic Music Festival for 17 years. He is responsible for programming over 1600 works of contemporary art music. Composers-in-residence for the festival included renowned electroacoustic music composers such as Hubert S. Howe, Jr., Cort Lippe, Gary Nelson, Jon Appleton, Joel Chadabe, Larry Austin, Barry Truax, Richard Boulanger, Paul Lansky, James Dashow, Mort Subotnick, John Chowning, Charles Dodge and Annea Lockwood. His ongoing dedication to the design and implementation of interdisciplinary projects lead to a cooperative project with colleagues in dance and electrical engineering aimed toward developing an alternative MIDI controller for dance. This project culminated in the premiere of his techno-ballet, Ender's Game, during the summer of 1994 at the University of Utrecht with an additional performance at the University of Amsterdam. The MIDI Movement Module, M3, developed for Ender's Game was nominated by the editors of Discover Magazine for their 1998 Award for Technological Innovation in Sound.

In the fall of 1993, Sain was in residence at the Swedish Royal Academy of Music as part of the Swedish-American Music Exchange. He returned to Sweden by invitation to compose at the Institute for Electroacoustic Music in Sweden, EMS, for the summer of 1995. The project initiated at EMS, "Recontextualization of Granulated and Concrete Sonic Resources," was awarded a Bicentennial Swedish-American Exchange Fund grant from the Consulate General of Sweden. During the summer of 1998 he presented and curated a concert of American electroacoustic music at the Folkwang-Hochschule/ICEM in Essen, Germany, as well as giving a workshop on computer music. His visit was funded by the Gesellschaft für Neue Musik Ruhr and the Folkwang-Hochschule, Essen. In 2001 Sain was in residence at the Sonoimágenes festival hosted by the University of Lanús in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he gave a workshop and premiered a new work for the M3 dance suit. He has also been a guest composer at the University of Birmingham, University of Oregon, DeMontfort University, Mercer University, Luther College, University of Hull - Scarborough, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, University of Aberdeen, and Winthrop University. Sain has curated exchange concerts with Stanford University's Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics and the University of Washington's DXArts program as well as coordinated formal exchanges with the Korean National University of Arts in Seoul, South Korea, and the University of Lanús in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Dr. Sain has studied composition privately with Frederic Goossen, David Ward-Steinman, Hubert Howe, Jr., Merle Hogg, and Brent Dutton. His works have been featured at societal events including the International Computer Music Association, Society of Composers, Inc., Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States, College Music Society, American Composers Alliance, American Guild of Organists, T.U.B.A., International Clarinet Association, World Saxophone Congress, North American Saxophone Alliance, Southeastern Composer's League, Southeast Horn Workshop, and on the Computer Music at Clark [U.S.A.], Arts Now [U.S.A.], Soundings [U.K.], Pulse Field [U.S.A.], Discoveries [U.K.], inner sOUndscapes [U.S.A.], Sonoimágenes [ARGENTINA], 3rd Practice [U.S.A.], Nong [SOUTH KOREA], UNCG New Music Festival [U.S.A.], Nuit Bleue [FRANCE], and Electronic Music Mid-West [U.S.A.] concert series. Dr. Sain served as Board Member in Composition for the College Music Society Southern Chapter, on the American Composers Alliance Board of Governors, and as Executive Committee Chair for the Society of Composers Inc. He is President Emeritus of the Society of Composers Inc. Sain was named the 2005 San Diego State University Music Alumnus of the Year. His compositions can be found on CD on the Capstone, Electronic Music Foundation, Innova, University of Lanús [ARGENTINA], Mark Masters, Albany and NACUSA labels. His music is published by Brazinmusikanta Publications and American Composers Editions.