Julius Eastman (October 27, 1940 – May 28, 1990) was an African-American composer, pianist, singer and dancer. He is a minimalist.
Life
Eastman grew up in Ithaca, New York. He began piano at age 14. He studied piano at the Curtis Institute of Music, with Mieczyslaw Horszowski and composition with Constant Vauclain.
In 1970, Eastman joined the Center for the Creative and Performing Arts at SUNY Buffalo, where he met the Czech-born composer, conductor, and flute player Petr Kotik. Eastman and Kotik played together in the early to mid 1970s. Eastman was a maker of the S.E.M. Ensemble. From 1971 he performed and traveled with the group.
He died alone in Millard Fillmore Hospital in Buffalo, New York of heart problems. No attention was given to his death until an obituary in the Village Voice by Kyle Gannon January 22, 1991, eight months after he died.
Known works
Tripod (1960s) for unspecified instruments
Piano Piece I (1968) for solo piano
Piano Piece II (1968) for solo piano
Piano Piece III (1968) for solo piano
Piano Piece IV (1968) for solo piano
Thruway (1970) for chorus (plus other unspecified instruments) The Moon's Silent Modulation (1970) for dancers, vocalists and chamber ensemble Touch Him When (?) for piano 4 hands Macle (1971) for voices and electronics Comp 1 (1971) for solo flute Mumbaphilia (1972) for solo performer and dancers Wood in Time (1972) for metronomes Stay on It (1973) for voice, clarinet, 2 saxes, violin, piano and percussion 440 (1973) for voice, violin, viola and double bass Femenine (1974) for chamber ensemble If You're So Smart, Why Aren't You Rich? (1977) for violin, 2 French horns, 4 trumpets, 2 trombones, tuba, piano, 2 chimes and 2 basses NF (1978) for piano Piece for 2 pianos (1979) Evil Nigger (1979) for 4 pianos Gay Guerilla (ca. 1980) for 4 pianos Crazy Nigger (ca. 1980) for 4 pianos The Holy Presence of Joan d'Arc (1981) for ten cellos Untitled [Prelude to The Holy Presence of Joan d'Arc] (1981?) for solo voice His Most Qualityless Majesty (1983) for piano and voice Piano 2 (1986) for solo piano
Recordings
2005 - Unjust Malaise by various artists (New World 80638) (Includes "Stay On It"; "If You're So Smart, Why Aren't You Rich"; "Prelude to The Holy Presence of Joan d'Arc"; "The Holy Presence of Joan d'Arc"; "Gay Guerilla"; "Evil Nigger"; "Crazy Nigger"; and Spoken Introduction to Northwestern University Concert) 1987 - Davies, Peter Maxwell. Miss Donnithorne's Maggot; Eight Songs For a Mad King. London: Unicorn-Kanchana. (Includes Julius Eastman, baritone.) 1981 - Monk, Meredith. Dolmen Music. (Includes Julius Eastman, voice.) 1972 - Kolb, Barbara, and Richard Moryl. New York: Desto. (Includes Julius Eastman, narrator, on Side A.)
Other websites
The Julius Eastman Project
20th-century American composers
American pianists
Singers from New York (state) American dancers Musicians from New York (state) 1940 births 1990 deaths