James Swearingen

James Swearingen
Background information
Occupation(s) Composer
Website Official Site

James Swearingen is an American composer and arranger. He holds a Master’s Degree from the Ohio State University and a Bachelor's degree from Bowling Green State University and is Professor of Music Emeritus, Department Chair of Music Education at Capital University, Columbus, Ohio.

The music he writes is part of a small genre played in American high school band classes as Concert Literature, generally two- to six-minute-long pieces played for high school band concerts. He is a recipient of several ASCAP awards.

Biography

Mr. Swearingen is currently one of several resident composers at Capital University[1] and is also a staff arranger for the Ohio State University Marching Band[2]. Prior to his appointment at Capital in 1987, he spent eighteen years teaching instrumental music in the public schools of central Ohio. His first teaching assignment was in Sunbury, Ohio. He then spent fourteen years as Director of Instrumental Music at Grove City High School, teaching marching, concert and jazz bands.

Swearingen is also a guest conductor[3], adjudicator[4][5] and educational clinician[6] in the USA and internationally. He has travelled throughout the United States, Japan, Australia, Europe, Canada and The Republic of China.

With over 600 published works, he has written band compositions and arrangements in a variety of musical forms and styles[7]. Many of his pieces, including 81 commissioned works, have been chosen for contest and festival[8][9] lists. He is a recipient of several ASCAP awards for published compositions and in 1992 was selected as an Accomplished Graduate of the Fine and Performing Arts from Bowling Green State University. Most recently, he received the 2002 Community Music Educator Award given annually by the Columbus Symphony Orchestra. He is a member of the Ohio Music Education Association (OMEA), MENC: The National Association for Music Education, American School Band Directors Association (ASBDA), Phi Beta Mu, Pi Kappa Lambda, and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. In March 2000, he was invited to join the American Bandmasters Association.

Recordings

Several of Swearingen's band compositions have been recorded by The Washington Winds and are available on compact discs from Walking Frog Records. His recordings include In All Its Glory, Exaltation, Panther in the Sky, Celebration For Winds And Percussion, The Light Of Dawn, and the newest release, Flight of Valor.

Compositions

Title Published Grade Length (minutes)
In All its Glory 1989 4 6:03
All Glory Told 1995 3 6:30
An American Portrait 1998 3 6:00
And the Angels Called 2005 3 6:58
Ashton Overture 1984 2 4:00
Aventura 1984 3 5:47
Baywood Overture 1991 1 3:24
Beautiful Savior 2003 3 2:47
Blue Ridge Saga 1990 3 6:27
Bring It On Home 1993 3
Big Brass Attack 1987 3
Boogie Down 1981 3
Breakthrough 1995 3
Brookpark Overture 1983 2.5 3:18
Bunker Hill Overture 1994 2 3:33
Carnival Del Soul 1991 3
Carolina Legend 1991 2 4:09
Celebration and Dance 1991 3.5 5:36
Celebration for Winds and Percussion 1999 3 5:56
Centuria 1986 3 5:29
Chesford Portrait 1982 3 6:19
Children of the Shrine 2000 3 2:33
Clark County Celebration 2007 2 4:32
Color Of The Guard 1980 3
Comin’ Alive 1988 3
Covington Square 1985 3 5:06
Crosswinds march 2007 2 2:03
Crunch Time! 2007 2 1:58
(The Legend of) Danny Boy 2000 3 2:20
Dawn of a New Day 1993 3.5 5:55
Denbridge Way 1979 3 4:54
A Distant Light 2009 2.5 2:28
Eiger (Journey to the Summit) 2007 3 5:37
Entrance of the Tall Ships 2001 2 2:13
Exaltation 1978 3 4:57
Fired Up 3
Firenze 3
Flight of Valor 2003 3.5 6:14
Follow the River 2004 3 3:24
Forever Shining 2010 3 6:00
Freedom’s March 1998 1
Get On Down 3
Go For It 3
Gotta Get Down 3
Grand Canyon Overture
Heroes and Glory 1
Hip Stick 3
Hot Samba Nueva 3
How Firm Thy Friendship
Ignite the Night 2004 2.5
Instant Concert
In the Presence of Heroes
In the Wake of Spring 2002 1.5 2:02
In the Winter of 1730: A River's Journey 2003 3 5:16
In Time of Triumph
Into the Joy of Spring 2001 3.5 6:14
In Quest of Uluru 2002
Invicta 1981 3 6:00
Jubilance 1997 3 4:42
Just Do It! 1992 3
La Fiesta Brava 1985 3
Legacy 1996 3 5:27
The Legend of the Nighthawk
The Light Eternal 1992 4 7:35
The Light of Dawn 1998 2.5 4:27
Majestia 1983 3 6:15
Majestia 1987
Excalibur 1992 1.5 3:33
Make a Joyful Noise! 2004 3 6:21
Mambo Cubano 2009 2.5 1:53
Montero 1980 3
Nightflight 2008 4 6:35
Northpointe Fantasy 2005 2.5
Novena (Rhapsody for Band) 1980 3 5:44
Ol' Glory March
Panther in the Sky 2004 2.5 3:35
Park Street Celebration 1980 2
Prelude and Energico 1996 2.5 4:12
Proud Spirit 1990 3 3:16
Of Pride And Celebration 1987 3 6:27
Seagate Overture 1988 3 7:37
A Song of Hope 2002 2 2:35
In Times of Triumph 2002 3 5:35
A Vision of Majesty 1998 4 7:30
When Kings Go Forth
Where the River Flows 1994 3 7:12
Windemere 1990 2.5 3:29
The Distant Castle
Of Time and Change 2014 3 5:25

Air of nobility

Grading Scale

According to Swearingen's web site, he grades the difficulty of performing his compositions using the following scale:[10]

  • 1 - Easy (for first year beginning bands)
  • 2 - Medium Easy (for second and third year bands)
  • 3 - Medium (for intermediate or early high school bands)
  • 4 - Medium Difficult (for most high school bands)

References

  1. ↑ "Capital University Band Festival - Capital University". www.capital.edu.
  2. ↑ "Arrangers". 28 July 2015.
  3. ↑ "Data" (PDF). www.midwestclinic.org.
  4. ↑ "Festival of Music - Worlds of Fun". festival.worldsoffun.com.
  5. ↑ "Adjudicators". Music.carowinds.com. 2005-09-01. Retrieved 2018-06-28.
  6. ↑ "Program" (PDF). coloradobandmasters.org. 2014.
  7. ↑ "James Swearingen - Our Composers - C. L. Barnhouse Company". www.barnhouse.com.
  8. ↑ "James Swearingen". prezi.com.
  9. ↑ "Review" (PDF). www.msbandmasters.com. 2017.
  10. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-08-15. Retrieved 2009-07-06.
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