Furman, James (1937-1989) | Center for Black Music Research
Name: Furman, James (1937-1989)
Historical Note: James Furman was born in Louisville, Kentucky in 1938. He earned a bachelor’s degree in music and a master’s degree in music education from the University of Louisville. After teaching for several years in public schools, in 1965 he joined the faculty of Western Connecticut State University in Danbury, Connecticut, where he remained until his death. He published several choral and chamber compositions and had major performances of others that remain unpublished, particularly his oratorio I Have a Dream. A complete biography can be found in Eileen Southern’s Biographical Dictionary of Afro-American and African Musicians (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1982).