Julius Eastman

Julius Eastman (October 27, 1940 – May 28, 1990) was an American composer, pianist, and singer. He was a minimalist.

Life and Work
Eastman grew up in Ithaca, New York. He began piano at age 14. He studied piano at the Curtis Institute of Music, with Mieczyslaw Horszowski and composition with Constant Vauclain.

In December 1966, he made his debut in New York at The Town Hall concert theatre, playing mostly his own compositions.  

In 1970, Eastman joined the Center for the Creative and Performing Arts at SUNY Buffalo, where he met the Czech-born composer, conductor, and flute player Petr Kotik. Eastman and Kotik played together in the early to mid 1970s. Eastman was a maker of the S.E.M. Ensemble. From 1971 he performed and traveled with the group.

In 1974, Eastman was nominated for a Grammy award for his vocal performance of Eight Songs for a Mad King by Peter Maxwell Davies.

He died alone in Millard Fillmore Hospital in Buffalo, New York of heart problems. No attention was given to his death until an obituary in the Village Voice by Kyle Gann January 22, 1991, eight months after he died. 

 Known works

 Tripod (1960s) for unspecified instruments
 Piano Piece I (1968) for solo piano
 Piano Piece II (1968) for solo piano
 Piano Piece III (1968) for solo piano
 Piano Piece IV (1968) for solo piano
 Thruway (1970) for chorus (plus other unspecified instruments)
 The Moon's Silent Modulation (1970) for dancers, vocalists and chamber ensemble
 Touch Him When (?) for piano 4 hands
 Macle (1971) for voices and electronics
 Comp 1 (1971) for solo flute
 Mumbaphilia (1972) for solo performer and dancers
 Wood in Time (1972) for metronomes
 Stay on It (1973) for voice, clarinet, 2 saxes, violin, piano and percussion
 440 (1973) for voice, violin, viola and double bass
 Femenine (1974) for chamber ensemble
 If You're So Smart, Why Aren't You Rich? (1977) for violin, 2 French horns, 4 trumpets, 2 trombones, tuba, piano, 2 chimes and 2 basses
 NF (1978) for piano
 Piece for 2 pianos (1979)
 Evil Nigger (1979) for 4 pianos
 Gay Guerilla (ca. 1980) for 4 pianos
 Crazy Nigger (ca. 1980) for 4 pianos
 The Holy Presence of Joan d'Arc (1981) for ten cellos
 Untitled [Prelude to The Holy Presence of Joan d'Arc] (1981?) for solo voice
 His Most Qualityless Majesty (1983) for piano and voice
 Piano 2 (1986) for solo piano

 Recordings

 2005 - Unjust Malaise by various artists (New World 80638) (Includes "Stay On It"; "If You're So Smart, Why Aren't You Rich"; "Prelude to The Holy Presence of Joan d'Arc"; "The Holy Presence of Joan d'Arc"; "Gay Guerilla"; "Evil Nigger"; "Crazy Nigger"; and Spoken Introduction to Northwestern University Concert)
 1987 - Davies, Peter Maxwell. Miss Donnithorne's Maggot; Eight Songs For a Mad King. London: Unicorn-Kanchana. (Includes Julius Eastman, baritone.)
 1981 - Monk, Meredith. Dolmen Music. (Includes Julius Eastman, voice.)
 1972 - Kolb, Barbara, and Richard Moryl. New York: Desto. (Includes Julius Eastman, narrator, on Side A.)

 Other websites 
 The Julius Eastman Project

Category:20th-century American composers
Category:American pianists
Category:Singers from New York (state)
Category:American dancers
Category:Musicians from New York (state)
Category:1940 births
Category:1990 deaths

References