James J. Kaufmann

Accompanist

Phone: (585) 395-2461

James J. Kaufmann, dance accompanist, received a BA in music at the University of Northern Iowa and a MM in Jazz and Contemporary Media from the Eastman School of Music. However, the diversity of his work shows his conviction that it is essential for proponents of music to address broader issues such as the cultural and sonic environments in which sound is shared. As an undergraduate student, he took courses in linguistics, Japanese, second-language teaching methodology, and spent over two years working and studying in Japan. This experience enabled him to produce and musically direct a collaboration between a native Japanese composer, Yuki Morimoto and Choreographer Sondra Fraleigh. It also propelled a passionate interest in the human mind and its processing of auditory information. He is active and well-versed in the music of diverse American sub-cultures, working as pianist and co-director of Ebenezer Baptist Church where the tradition is African-American, as well as playing in a salsa and merengue band, and performing jazz and classical music very regularly.

Kaufmann has a deep belief in the value of unamplified sound as a medium and advocates for environments that allow for effective speaker-less sonic experiences beyond the genre of "classical" music. He has presented a Scholar's Day lecture demonstrating "Unamplified Rhythm and Soul" octet settings he composed using poems of Calvin Forbes. He subsequently worked with the Brockport Writers Forum to win a grant to fly the poet in for a live performance including both the songs and readings by Forbes. He has also written and performed unamplified jazz quartet settings of poems by Lucille Clifton.

The increasing environmental challenge of noise pollution to music thrust him into the acoustic ecology movement to found a citizens' group called Rochester Soundscape Society in 2002, a non-profit corporation dedicated to reducing noise through education and advocacy. This involvement connected him with worlds of people and schools of thought, and people of walks of life that value sonic environments for reasons beyond music, such as audiologists, psychologists, low-frequency noise sufferers and residents who simply need rest. The group has met with many top law enforcement officials and important local and state representatives and organizes a conference annually for International Noise Awareness Day.

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