James Budinich is a Croatian-American composer writing music inspired by minimalism, Croatian folk traditions, and American popular music. An artist who welcomes collaboration in his process, he composes for performances, films, and installations, using both acoustic instruments and electronic sound design. 

Recent collaborations include new works for Kate Dreyfuss (semiconcerto for violin and electronics, 2024; White Stone for violin and electronics, 2019), Pigeonwing Dance (sound design for The Choreography of CRISPR, 2022; 5x8, 2021; Plexus: a work in knots, 2020; and Tensible, 2018), movement artist Waeli Wang (sound design for her spine, the mountains, 2023, and sunder: before sky and earth, 2024), and visual artist Mao Wei (Manual City, an installation for music boxes and projected images, 2020). 

He has worked with ensembles such as Ensemble Illyrica, Yarn/Wire, the Momenta Quartet, Ensemble Mise-En, F-PLUS, and the Raleigh Civic Chamber Orchestra. Recent performances include the Ear Taxi Festival, Pulsar Festival, Festival Mise-En, and others across the United States and Europe. His work has been supported by Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center, the American Scandinavian Foundation, the Lois Roth Endowment, and the Charles and Joan Gross Family Foundation. 

James received a Ph.D. in Music Composition from Duke University in 2022, and was in residence at Copenhagen’s Royal Danish Academy of Music as a Fulbright Scholar in 2020-21. He currently serves as Lecturer in Composition and Music Creation Technologies at Binghamton University.

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From Long Island to Manhattan... then back to Long Island. Hi! My name is Casey Keenan. Here are some covers and hopefully one day some original songs. If you enjoy a song, please share with your friends, like and follow! Thanks so much for listening :)

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