About

James Krom is a PA-based composer, pianist, and organist currently pursuing a Master of Music degree in composition at Carnegie Mellon University, where he studies under Dr. Nancy Galbraith. He received his Bachelor of Music degree in composition from The Catholic University of America, where he studied under Dr. Stephen Gorbos, Dr. Andrew E. Simpson, Dr. Joel Friedmann, and JoAnne Harris. Recent premieres include Prayer of St. Francis for orchestra, Wolf Rocks Expedition for youth orchestra, and Alleluia for concert choir.   You can enjoy or critique many of James’ past and upcoming works on his YouTube channel, @James_Krom, or his website, www.jameskrom.com.

James Krom is a recent graduate in music composition at The Catholic University of America (CUA) and is currently pursuing a Master of Music degree in composition at Carnegie Mellon University, where he studies under Dr. Nancy Galbraith.

At CUA, James studied composition under Stephen Gorbos, Andrew Simpson, Joel Friedman, and JoAnne Harris. As an undergraduate, his compositions primarily included works for chamber forces, such as Crossing Ice Bridge at Niagara Falls for pierrot ensemble + percussion (a film score performed at the National Gallery as part of a collaboration with the Library of Congress) or Forest (Day & Night) for woodwind, marimba, and viola (a concert arrangement of a selection from an original set of electronic pieces). James also had the opportunity to compose for CUA's ~80-person Concert Choir, writing a concert "Alleluia" for SATB choir and piano performed on the university's 2024 Spring Concert Choir and Orchestra Concert.

At the 2023 International Musicians Academy in Vidin, Bulgaria, James participated as a full-time apprentice composer-in-residence and premiered two new works, Flying Pillars for string quartet and Night Ride Before a Duel for orchestra.

In his senior recital, James experimented in vocal writing, including two monodramatic settings of Shakespeare scenes for vocalist and piano, Macbeth Doth Come (mezzo, Macbeth) and A Dreamer (tenor, Julius Caesar). He also delved into limited aleatoricism with his oboe and piano work Subterranean Wandering.

As his senior year closed, James wrote Wolf Rocks Expedition for the Westmoreland Symphony Youth Orchestra, which was premiered Summer 2024 by the Delaware Orchestral and Chamber Music Institute and is expected a PA premiere Fall 2024.

In Summer 2024, Maestro Simeone Tartaglione asked James to compose a short orchestral work to perform in the CUA 2024 Fall Chamber Orchestra Concert in memory of Thomas Kanzelberger, a CUA student who passed away June 2024. James wrote Prayer of St. Francis for this premiere.

At Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), James studies composition with Nancy Galbraith, and looks forward to the upcoming Fall 2024 premiere of For Once, Then, Something for tenor and piano as well as the Spring 2025 readings of his reed quintet, Earth-Sky Adoration, and his string quintet, Commence.

James is also a trained keyboardist. In his undergraduate at CUA, James studied piano with Nikita Fitenko and organ with Benjamin LaPrairie. Along with performing classical repertoire and accompanying other students (including in new works by composers such as Aidan Feeney and Mary Russman), James premiered multiple solo keyboard pieces including Sonata no. 1 for piano and Help My Unbelief for organ. At CMU, James studies piano with Carla Larocca and has continued to workshop his own solo and accompaniment keyboard parts for performance.

You can enjoy or critique many of James’ past and upcoming works on his YouTube channel, @James_Krom, or his website, www.jameskrom.com.