James Dalton

James Dalton earned a B.A. with honors from Rutgers and a M.M. from the University of Idaho. He has studied composition with Louie White, Neely Bruce, Robert Dickow and Dan Bukvich, and guitar with Michael Newman and John Abercrombie. He has also taken master classes with Christopher Parkening, Angel Romero and Benjamin Verdery.

Dalton has performed guitar, mandolin and banjo with soprano Maggi Smith-Dalton of the 92nd Street "Y" Chamber Orchestra, the Indian Hill Symphony and the New England Mandolin Ensemble. In 1997, he won first prize in the Toronto Camerata Competition. Dalton’s compositions have been performed in the US, Canada and Europe by Idaho Brass, Toronto Camerata and Ensemble Decadanse at places such as the Kansas Symposium of New Music, Musiques Nouvelles, Lunel and France. Dalton’s writing has been published by Wolfhead, Fenwick Parva and Katrid. He recently released a book, Mandolin for Beginners (Alfred 2001), and his work was published in the anthology, The Albany Carillon Book (Carillon 2002). Dalton has also been broadcast on Connecticut Public Radio and Idaho Public Television.

Dalton is currently a faculty member of the Cape Cod Mandolin Festival and a member of Pi Kappa Lambda, the Society for American Music and the Classical Mandolin Society of America. He is former faculty of the National Guitar Workshop, the University of Idaho, Philadelphia College, Fitchburg State, Merrimack College and Indian Hill.