A native of Columbus, Ohio, James Perone received his B.M. degree in music education from Capital University in 1980. He subsequently pursued graduate studies at the State University of New York at Buffalo, where he received his M.F.A. in clarinet performance in 1982, his M.A. in music theory in 1984, and Ph.D. in music theory in 1988.
As a clarinetist and saxophonist, Dr. Perone has been a member of the Oxford Trio, East Buffalo Media Association, the Sax Company, S.E.M. Ensemble, the Buffalo New Music Ensemble, and the Madera Wind Quartet. He appears frequently in recital and has performed as a soloist with numerous educational and community groups, and with professional ensembles such as the Ars Nova Chamber Musicians, Tuscarawas Philharmonic, and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. Dr. Perone is currently principal clarinetist with the Tuscarawas Philharmonic and the Canton Concert Band and performs as a member of the Mansfield Chamber Music Players. His clarinet studies have been with James Pyne, Kenneth Grant, David Hite, and Allen Sigel. He has studied saxophone with Frank Kinnan, David Hite, Michael Nascimben, and Byron Rooker and has been coached in masterclasses by Keith Underwood, Carol Plantamura, Anthony Gigliotti, Mierczyslw Horszowski, Jerry Kirkbride, Murray Panitz, Bernard Garfield, and Stanley Drucker. Dr. Perone has performed clinics and masterclasses in Ohio, New York, Michigan, and in San Antonio, Texas for the 1996 Texas Bandmasters Association Convention. Dr. Perone's lecture/performance "Establishing a Motive: Dynamic and Rhythmic Shaping Based on Melodic Motives in Clarinet Works of Willson Osborne and Robert Schumann," was presented at the International Clarinet Association's ClarinetFest 2001 in New Orleans. One of Dr. Perone's favorite performances was as a clarinet soloist on the "Music of the Americas" concert at the October 1998 Annual Meeting of The College Music Society in Puerto Rico.
Dr. Perone has had music-related articles published in
Interface: The Journal of New Music Research (The
Netherlands), The Journal of the Science and Practice of Music
(South Korea), Music Theory: Explorations and Applications, The
Flutist Quarterly, The American Organist, and
ClariNetwork. Three of his essays are included in the St.
James Press book Contemporary Composers and his revision and
expansion of Ruth Watanabe's article on Howard Hanson appears in the
second edition of The New Grove Dictionary of Music and
Musicians. In addition, he has had articles published in several
experimental poetry journals and has presented papers at the Florida
State University Music Theory Society Conference, the Northeast
Chapter Meeting of The College Music Society, the West Coast
Conference on Music Theory and Analysis, and at the 37th, 39th, and
40th Annual Meetings of The College Music Society. He has also
presented several pre-concert lectures for the Buffalo Philharmonic
Orchestra, and appeared on WKBW-TV's program "A.M. Buffalo." Dr.
Perone's book, Howard
Hanson:
A
Bio-Bibliography, was published by Greenwood Press
in 1993. He has also written three bibliographic books on music
theory-related subjects for Greenwood, which also published his
Elvis
Costello:
A
Bio-Bibliography , Carole
King:
A
Bio-Bibliography and Louis
Moreau
Gottschalk:
A Bio-Bibliography. His reference book on
singer/songwriter Paul
Simon was published by Greenwood in January 2000 and was selected
as a finalist for both Best History and Best Discography in the
category "Best Research in General Popular Music" by the Association
for Recorded Sound Collections, 2001. Dr. Perone is also the author
of The Sound
of Stevie Wonder: His Words and Music, The
Words and Music of Carole King, The
Words and Music of David Bowie, The
Words and Music of Prince , and Mods, Rockers, and
the Music of the British Invasion.
Dr. Perone has had flute compositions published by The Instrumentalist, Inc. in the journal Flute Talk; two saxophone quartet works published by Dorn Publications; and several works for harp published by Dragonflower Music. He has been the recipient of over a dozen grants from Meet the Composer, Inc. His compositions and arrangements have been performed throughout Ohio and Western New York by chamber groups, choirs, and bands, and his 1988 tape piece Saurs was part of artist John Toth's installation of the same name at The City Gallery in New York City. In 1995, duo-pianists Victoria B. Harris and Melanie Vlad premiered his Get Out of the Way. His text piece 200 Lines for John Cage and his Piano Sonata No. 1 are part of the John Cage Archives at Northwestern University at the request of Mr. Cage. The graphic score Piano Sonata No. 1 was published by SCORE magazine in 1995. Dr. Perone's piano rag Scott Free was given a favorable review by Butch Thompson in Mississippi Rag magazine. The Mount Union College Concert Choir toured Dr. Perone's Mass in C in 1997. His orchestral work Joel's Journey to the Jewelled City was commissioned and premiered by the Alliance Symphony Orchestra in spring 1998, with Dr. Perone appearing as the klezmer clarinet soloist. His most recent composition is Get that Viola Out of the Operating Room!, written for and premiered by Jerome Miskell.
Active in professional organizations and in the community, Dr. Perone has been program chair, treasurer, secretary, and president of the Great Lakes Chapter of The College Music Society. Currently, he is Board Member for Music in General Studies for the The College Music Society. He has also served as president of the Alliance Kiwanis Club, and was the 2003-04 Distinguished Lt. Governor of Division 17 of the Ohio District of Kiwanis International.
Currently the Margaret Morgan Ramsey Professor in Music at the
University of Mount Union (formerly Mount Union College), Dr. Perone
previously taught at Canisius College, S.U.N.Y. at Buffalo, Villa Maria
College,
and the Community Music School of Buffalo. At Mount Union, Dr. Perone
has taught music theory, Music in America, Vernacular Music and the
Vietnam Conflict, clarinet, saxophone,
clarinet ensemble, woodwind class, orchestration, music appreciation,
and Introduction to
the Liberal Arts Experience. He chaired the Department of Music from
1996-2001, and from 2006-2009. In addition to his teaching and
administrative duties in the Department of Music, Dr. Perone has served
on the University's Academic Policies Committee and Faculty
Personnel Committee, also having chaired each committee. He has also
served as a member of the Council of the University's academic honor
society, Psi Kappa Omega, and as the advisor of the Blue Key Honor
Society. Currently, he is the advisor of Mount Union's chapter of
Circle K.