SOUTH AFRICAN FOLK SONGS Published
A new collection of songs from South Africa is available, co-authored with Nkululeko Zungu and published by Hal Leonard
SOUTH AFRICAN FOLK SONGS Reviewed in Pianodao
"Wilding and Zungu’s brilliant arrangements are as enjoyable as they are playable; exploring the collection proved an enriching experience, and these are pieces to which I will undoubtedly return."
Andrew Eales, piano educator
Read the full review here
SOUTH AFRICAN FOLK SONGS Hal Leonard’s Webinar Diverse New Repertoire for Fall
Jury Member in Foshan
The First Foshan Composers Contest will be held on 29 October 2022 (deadline for entries: 1 September)
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Recent Premiers
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Ohio and Indiana
Other Worlds for saxophone quartet 3, 4, 5 April 2022 The University of Akron The Ohio State University Butler University The Iovi Quartet Todd Gaffke Michael Rene Torres Heidi Radtke J. Adam Briggs |
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Peruse the score
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Akron, Ohio
Two Pieces for orchestra 1. Staying at Home 2. Together Sunday 14 November 2021 at 3 pm North High School, Akron Akron Youth Symphony Eric Benjamin, conductor 
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Peruse the score
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Akron, Ohio
Canons for saxophone, clarinet, and piano Sunday 29 August 2021 at 3:00 pm Guzzetta Recital Hall, The University of Akron Todd Gaffke, Stanislav Golovin, James Wilding 
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Peruse the score
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Youngstown, Ohio
The Garden Had Fallen Still for chamber orchestra Sunday 2 May 2021 at 3:00 pm Ford Family Recital Hall, DeYor Performing Arts Center, Youngstown, Ohio The Dana Ensemble 
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Peruse the score
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New Sounds
Mbira: a Lamellophone from Southern Africa
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During one of my many trips back to my native South Africa, I picked up one of these beautiful instruments. They are easily available at craft markets, tourist shops, or just sold by the side of the road. Part of the Venda and Shona traditions, this type of instrument is also found further North, where it may be known as a Kalimba or Sansa.
The tuning of each member of this family is unique. For my mbira, the lowest notes are in the middle, the highest on the left and right, with different pentatonic scales in each of these two registers. Read more and hear this instrument on my blog |
Sample Scores
WATCH: Composing and Creativity
James Wilding talks about his composition process on the January video of Urban Troubadour's Online Roving Adventures
Watch on Urban Troubadour
New Videos
Album PICTURES Reviewed in clevelandclassical.com
"In Pictures, the debut album from composer and pianist James Wilding, every piece was inspired by something outside the world of music, from the concrete (a particular sculpture) to the abstract (a vision of the end of the world)... perhaps the biggest draw of listening to Pictures is the unique glimpse it gives into one artist’s process of composition" - Jarrett Hoffman
Album Launch
Impressions from the album launch at Steinway Piano Galley on 4 April 2019
Photography by Missy Iler
Recording the Album
Video from the studio in Mount Vernon, New York
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Drops of Memory occur predictably, while the harmony changes gradually and unpredictably, forming a texture of individual notes dancing over a canvas of ever expanding and contracting harmonic progressions.
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Inspired by a Zimbabwean stone sculpture of a maternal spirit, Nehanda Remembered uses quartal chords to represent the solid stone and the nurturing mother.
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Preparing for the Project
The composer talks about the process of practicing his own music
Kaupo Kikkas Photography
Amazing shots by award-winning Estonian photographer Kaupo Kikkas
