James Sullivan is Assistant Professor of Music Theory at Michigan State University, having previously taught double bass and music theory at the University of Evansville. He holds a D.M.A. and M.M. in double bass performance and a Ph.D in music theory from the Eastman School of Music, as well as a B.M. in double bass performance and a B.S. in mathematics from Indiana University.

Sullivan has performed as a soloist with the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra and gives recitals regularly. His most recent solo performance was a virtual premiere of Scree Scramble, a new piece written for him by composer Ben Morris. Sullivan has performed in numerous chamber settings, including with Eastman Broadband at Carnegie Hall under the auspices of David Lang’s Creating New Music Workshop. Prior to moving to Michigan, Sullivan was section bass with both the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra and the Owensboro Symphony Orchestra.

As both a performer and a music theorist, Sullivan is interested in the connection between the two. At MSU, he teaches a course on Performance and Analysis, and he has recently published a chapter in the volume 20th- and 21st-Century Song Cycles: Analytical Pathways to Performance. Even his more academic writing, such as his forthcoming article Metric Manipulations in Post-Tonal Music, draws examples from pieces he has performed. His Post-Tonal Method Book for the Double Bass, still under revision, won Eastman’s Lecture Recital Prize. Other significant awards include Eastman’s Alfred Mann Dissertation Award and the University of Rochester’s Edward Peck Curtis Award for Excellence in Teaching.