James Furman was born in Louisville, Kentucky in 1937 and was a college professor/Composer. He studied piano and as a teenager won first place in the Louisville Philharmonic Society's Young Artist Contest in 1953. He received his Bachelor of Music Education and Master of Music in Theory-Composition degrees from the University of Louisville. He pursued graduate study at Brandeis and Harvard. In this time he studied under: Irving Fine, Arthur Berger, George Perle, Harold Shapero, Claude Almand, George Perle, Claude Almand, Irving Fine, Arthur Berger, and Harold Shapero.

He taught music in secondary schools in Louisville and Mamaroneck, and then at the College level at Western Connecticut State college in Danbury (1965-1989). His also composed choral works, songs, and chamber music. Some of his compositions of note include: "I Have a Dream" (1971), the trio "Variants" (1963), a choral suite "Four Little Foxes" (1965), and "Declaration of Independence" for orchestra and narrator (1977).

Sources:

Eileen Southern’s Biographical Dictionary of Afro-American and African Musicians (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1982). James Furman [http://www.candlewood.net/furman/index.html]