[Voxnovus] James Brody (1941-2010)

[Vox Novus List]

It is with great regret to announce that one the 60x60 composers, James
Brody has tragically died in a car accident last week while attending the
Seamus Festival in MN. 

James Brody has been on several mixes and has been a great supporter of the
60x60 project and contemporary music.  His contributions will be sorely
missed.

Details below:

James M. Brody of Espanola, NM, formerly of New Cumberland, Baltimore, and
San Antonio, TX, died as a result of a car accident on Sunday, April 11,
2010 in Roseville, MN. He was born July 13, 1941 in Clearfield, PA. He was
the son of the late William and Virginia Brody of Harrisburg, PA.

He studied music composition with Iannis Xenakis and Franz Kamin at Indiana
University, where he received a master's degree. "An important figure in the
development
of electronic music in the Midwest," according to the American Music Center,
Brody wrote the liner notes for the original Nonesuch LP of 'Iannis Xenakis
- Electroacoustic Music'. He was co-founder of organizations in Bloomington,
IN and San Antonio, TX, dedicated to presenting and performing works by
local composers. In 1970 he taught composition, theory and electronic music
at East Texas State University.

Brody composed many electroacoustic and instrumental works, including a
performance in 1994 of "Traces", commissioned and performed by the
Harrisburg Symphony. He also served on the Harrisburg Symphony's Board of
Directors. Brody was a guest composer at the Electronic and Computer Music
Studio of The Peabody Institute and an active member and past president of
the Baltimore Composers Forum.

Based on the Hopi story of creation, his large-scale work "Techqua Ikachi!"
was premiered at York College of Pennsylvania in 2004, where he was a
lecturer from 2005-2007. Most recently he hosted a radio program on WKUNM-FM
in Santa Fe called "Other Voices, Other Sounds." He was on a team to
organize the music program for the Santa Fe Complex, where he recently
participated in a program called "The Improvising Composer."

Sufism was an essential and passionate part of his life and led him to meet
and study with many spiritual teachers and their communities around the
world, most closely with Pir Vilayat Khan and Reshad Feild. Brody is
survived by his wife, Siri Neel Kaur Khalsa and her children: I. Gurushabad
Singh Khalsa, of Philadelphia and Lakshmi Kaur Khalsa of Santa Cruz, NM; son
David Brody and his wife Amy of Westminster MD; daughter Sophia Brody;
granddaughter Laurelin of Corpus Christi, TX; brother Tom Brody and his wife
Judy of Washington, D.C.; sister Ellen Hughes and her husband Nicholas of
Mechanicsburg, PA; and many loving family members, friends and colleagues.

A memorial service will be held Sunday, April 18 at 2 p.m. at the Santa Fe
Complex. Memorial contributions in lieu of flowers may be made to the Santa
Fe Complex, 624 Agua Fria St., Santa Fe, NM, 87501; the Chalice Guild-Living
School, 1807 Second St. #73, Santa Fe, NM; the Yogi Bhajan Library of
Teachings, PO Box 1819, Santa Cruz, NM 87567; or to a charity of the donor's
choosing.



Robert Voisey

RobVoisey at VoxNovus.com
60x60 Director
Living Music Foundation Vice President
Founder of Vox Novus 
http://www.VoxNovus.com