Shreveport-born composer James Eakin speaks at Centenary College Fri, Sept 19, 4 pm, before SSO performs his piece on Sat, Sept 20, 7:30 pm

Centenary alumnus and professional composer James Eakin (2000) will be on campus Fri, Sept 19, at 4 pm in the Anderson Auditorium of the Hurley School of Music, says David Henington. James will be speaking with music students and guests about his career and creative process. The program is free and open to the public.

James is in Shreveport for the world premiere of his orchestral piece "Cloud Scrapers", which will be performed Sat, Sept 20, by the Shreveport Symphony. Check on the concert and the great program notes at shreveportsymphony.com.

James was born and raised in Shreveport, Louisiana. From an early age, he was drawn to his native blues and jazz as well as classical and Film music, playing everything he heard by ear on the piano, as well as his own compositional musings. His inspiration to become a film/tv composer actually stemmed from his fascination with music in animation. James reflects,”The way the music accentuated various actions and moods while staying perfectly in sync intrigued me. It was truly a supporting character.” During these early years, James taught himself piano, guitar, saxophone, clarinet, and flute, all the while singing at every opportunity.

It wasn’t until years later that James began formal music studies. He earned a Bachelor of Music from Centenary College (2000), a Master of Music from Southern Methodist University (2003), and in 2007, received a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Music Composition at the Conservatory of Music, University of Missouri-Kansas City.