Bio

Biography

Bios for different functions

Short Version
James McGowan is a pianist (jazz and classical), improviser, accompanist, composer, arranger, music theorist, and educator, in addition to his research and administrative activities as a faculty member in the Music program at Carleton University.

Carleton Academic Bio
(Click link to open new page on Carleton University website)

Medium-length Performance Bio

James McGowan (PhD Eastman) is an Associate Professor of Music at Carleton University, where he teaches music theory and composition. He is a passionate educator and was won several teaching awards. He serves as Carleton University Chair in Teaching Innovation (2020–23) for his work in developing experiences in the arts on campus and in the community. He is Managing Director of the Carleton Jazz Camp, an instructor at CAMMAC in piano and musical fusion, and serves as the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Lotus Centre for Special Music Education in Ottawa. He is a published author of articles on jazz theory and music theory pedagogy.

Embracing multiple styles of music, Dr. McGowan is a solo and collaborative pianist, at home in jazz, classical, and improvised musics. As a pianist, he performs regularly at Brookstreet Options Jazz Lounge and elsewhere in Ottawa. The 14-member James McGowan Ensemble releases its jazz-classical fusion album Reaching In in 2023 featuring his compositions and poetry, supported in part by a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts. In recent years, he has released four other albums as leader or co-leader, including the critically acclaimed album 4K, feature his work as composer, pianist, and leader of the quartet Modasaurus. “Canadian quartet Modasaurus displays expert musicianship in a session firmly rooted in contemporary jazz fusion. Modasaurus is a quartet of extremely skilled musicians who combine styles expertly and turn 4K into a great success” (Elliot Marlow-Stevens, Jazz Journal (UK), March 24, 2021). More info at www.JamesMcGowan.ca

Long Version
James McGowan is a pianist, organist, conductor, composer, arranger, educator, and music theorist equally at home in many genres of music. With degrees in Music Theory from the Eastman School of Music/University of Rochester (PhD 2005) and University of North Texas (M.M. 1995), and degrees in Composition from the University of Toronto (M.Mus 1993, B.Mus 1992), Dr. McGowan is an Associate Professor of Music at Carleton University. He also holds an A.R.C.T. in Piano Performance (first class honours) from the Royal Conservatory of Music (Toronto).

Dr. McGowan is a passionate educator and was awarded the honour of serving as Carleton University Chair in Teaching Innovation in 2020. In this capacity he receives an annual grant to promote community music and arts education across the campus with his PLACE initiative and conducting research in its impact to Teaching and Learning. He has also been recognized with multiple university-wide awards for his teaching (CU Teaching Achievement Award ($15,000 research in teaching award), CU New Faculty Teaching Award, two-time recipient of Carleton Residences Favourite Faculty Award, a Raving Raven for Teaching Excellence, a CUSA Teaching Excellence Award, and McMaster University Student Union Teaching Award for Humanities). At Carleton, serves as Managing Director of the Carleton Jazz Camp. He served as Supervisor of Performance Studies at Carleton University (2011–12 and 2018–21), Supervisor of Ensembles, Masterclasses and Practica, and Undergraduate Supervisor. He is an instructor at the CAMMAC Music Centre (Harrington, Québec) in their Musical Fusions summer camp program. He has been a clinician and adjudicator for different arts organizations (Junos, Kiwanis, Lions, Canadian Music Showcase, City of Ottawa Arts Grants, etc.), and given workshops on topics including introductory improvisation, choral singing, jazz piano approaches, jazz music theory, and managing performance anxiety.

Finding the hybrid space between classical, jazz, and contemporary improvisation, James has given piano performances in Canada, the United States, and Sweden, and has collaborated with ensembles including the Sudbury Symphony Orchestra, James Madison University Jazz Ensemble, and individual musicians from Jesse Stewart to Ian Tamblyn to Dong-Won Kim to Jamaal Amir Akbari [formerly Jamaal Jackson Rogers], and Heidi Melton to Barbara Hannigan. He has performed frequently in the Ottawa International Jazz Festival, as well as the Stewart Park Festival, Merrickville's Jazz Festival, and Skylight Festival. He currently performs with Modasaurus, James McGowan trio, EvenSong, Michael Curtis Hanna, and others; in recent years he has released four albums as leader or co-leader—4K, Two Intents, Over the Mountain, and Songs from the Bridge—and others as a session pianist and arranger.

In 2022, James won a Canada Council Arts "Concept to Realization" grant to support his work preparing and recording a program of original compositions for classical-jazz-fusion 12-piece ensemble. As an award-winning composer and arranger (including First Prize PROCAN Canada-wide Young Composers Competition; Glenn Gould Composition Scholarship, UofT; John Weinzweig Composition Scholarship, UofT; Canadian University Music Society Composition Competition), James has composed in most genres including choral cantatas, orchestral music, chamber music, songs (jazz, art songs, and singer-songwriter), and compositions for jazz ensembles, including music for his jazz-fusion quartet Modasaurus. He has had commissions by various groups including the Etobicoke School of the Arts choir and orchestra program, Alexander Singers and Players (Toronto), the Atlantic Voices Choir of Ottawa, and Carleton University Choir. His works have recently been performed (or accepted for performance) by the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra, Rocky Mountain Symphony, Coro Vivo, and other ensembles.

As a music theorist, Dr. McGowan has presented his research across Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom. He has several published articles, primarily in the field of jazz theory but also in choral music. He has developed and continues to expand specialized course packs in music theory and musicianship courses he has taught. He is currently the editor of the Jazz Theory Bibliography, an online database hosted at Carleton University. Selected publications include: "Mitigating European-Centric Bias in University Music Theory Curricula,” “‘Consonance’ in Tonal Jazz: A Critical Survey of its Semantic History,” “Psychoacoustic Foundations of Contextual Harmonic Stability in Jazz Piano Voicings,” “Riemann’s Functional Framework for Extended Jazz Harmony,” “Applying the Metaphor of Motion to Phrase Analysis and Performance of Choral Music,” in addition to his oft-cited 2005 dissertation "Dynamic Consonance in Selected Piano Performances of Tonal Jazz." Dr. McGowan is also a Research Fellow in the Centre for Music, Sound, and Society in Canada.

James is also active in community music leadership, in which he has directed several amateur church music programs, conducted school-age choirs, coached school-age instrumental music ensembles, taught musicianship for all levels of school-age programming, accompanied music theatre ensembles, led a musical group for those living with mental illness, performed in nursing homes and palliative-care facilities, developed and taught a course in Community Music at Carleton University, and mentored others to develop their skill sets in community music. He also serves as the volunteer Chair of the Board of Directors at Lotus Centre for Special Music Education.