Dr. James DeMars

A collection of the compositions of Dr. James DeMars (b. 1952), professor of music composition at ASU from 1981 to 2019, containing the music scores, parts and the composer’s reference recordings. These are intended to be used for personal study and research. Please notify the composer at demars@asu.edu to request permission for performance use.

Composer/conductor Dr. James DeMars began his career as an avant-garde pianist in Minneapolis while completing studies at Macalester College and the University of MN. In 1981 he joined the faculty of ASU and began an extended series of intercultural works including concerti for violin, piano, African drum ensemble, pow-wow singers, Native American flute, several cantatas, a requiem mass, an opera and numerous ensemble works.

Performance highlights include conducting An American Requiem at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. and nationally televised performances in New York and Paris, France. His works have been presented by the New York Choral Society, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Philadelphia Orchestra, Buffalo Philharmonic, Phoenix Symphony, California Symphony, Chicago Sinfonietta, I solisti da Zagreb and many others. He received the 2010 Arizona Artist of the Year Award, two 2015 Arizona Theater Awards, two Native American Music Awards and is an inductee to the French Order of Arts and Letters. His aesthetic influences include the writings of Joseph Campbell and Albert Camus.