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James Staples Picture James Staples, D.M.A.
Professor

Email: jstaples@iup.edu

Phone: 724-357-3065

Office Hours:
By Appointment

Piano
Theory/Theory Skills
Comprehensive Musicianship

James Staples pianist, is a native of Florida who now makes his home in Indiana, Pennsylvania, where he is a Professor of Music at Indiana University. He has also taught piano and music theory at State University College at Fredonia, New York. Dr. Staples holds Bachelorís and Masterís degrees in performance from Florida State University and a the Doctor of Music arts in performance from the Eastman School of Music. He has also studied privately in New York City for two years with the late Irwin Freundlich. His other teachers have included Carlisle Floyd and Maria Luisa Faini. A frequent recitalist in the Indiana area as a solo pianist, Dr. Staples has also appeared with orchestras in Fredonia and Rochester, New York as well as in Tallahassee and Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and in Indiana, Pennsylvania. He has participated in chamber recitals in virtually every state in the Northeast, as well as in Colorado as a faculty member of the Rocky Ridge Music Center in Estes Park.

Since 1988, Dr. Staples has pursued a lifelong interest in music composition, turning first to pieces for his own instrument, the piano, and then to works for chamber groups, both small and large. His works for piano solo include a sonata, four suites of shorter pieces, and a theme and variations; for chamber group, he has written a piano trio, three duos for clarinet and bassoon, a suite for tuba, and works for clarinet and piano, trombone and piano, and flute and piano. In addition, there are two choral works with piano accompaniment (Mass and God With Us), and a piece for Wind Ensemble and piano (Wind Sprint). During a sabbatical leave ion 1995-96, Dr. Staples composed and scored a large scale piano concerto with orchestra, which was premiered with the IUP Symphony Orchestra in 1997.