Biography

After 36 years of teaching in higher education, James Vernon continues to compose for a variety of genres, especially in sacred music.  He has composed works in choral, instrumental, orchestra, and chamber genres, and works for theater productions.  His most recent large work the full-length opera A Porcelain Doll was premiered in March 2017.  Previous large works include the 2013 The Glow From That Fire for Mixed Chorus, Alto Soloist, Narrator, and Orchestra, which utilized the 1961 Inauguration speech of President John F. Kennedy as a text.  In 2014, he premiered a work for women’s choir and brass ensemble, Elegy for Trains, based on a poem by colleague Benjamin Myers.  Vernon specializes in choral and vocal works, but continues to compose instrumental works and works for live theater productions.

Originally from Chesapeake, Virginia, Vernon attended Western Branch High School and was a part of the remarkable choral work done there by Dr. Dennis Price.  As an undergraduate student at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, Vernon studied with composer John J. Davye.  Graduate work at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas and at The University of North Texas (Denton) yielded composition studies with William Mac Davis and Cindy McTee.