James A Norkawich
James was born in Bridgeport Connecticut on March 28, 1975 to Donald & Elaine Norkawich and from there the story begins. From the age of 3, James had shown interest in the chord organ, so his grandfather Albert Kaufman ( who played organ by ear and formed the first amatuer society in Connecticut CVTOS – The Connecticut Valley Theatre Organ Society.)
You can find out more on his website right here.
James at the age of 5, started studying with Verelli Music Studios in Bridgeport Connecticut. After studying a few years on the piano he then began intensive studies in organ with Frank Markham from Westport Music located in Westport Connecticut.
Throughout grammar school and grammar school James became proficient in both piano and organ.
From the age of 9-14, James had won numerous awards such as the coveted WICC 600 am talent contest, was featured in many newspapers and local events that featured up and coming artists.
When James attended high school he was accepted in a program in the arts which in addition to your high school day it was comprised of going to The University of Bridgeport and studying Jazz Theory & Composition and Midi Studies with industry professionals in the field. The program was called Regional Center For The Arts. Regional Center For The Arts went from a small program consisting of 40 students to over 100 currently and is now part of CES in Trumbull Connecticut.
Regional Center was the platform which propelled James to a career in Music.
In the summer of 1993, James was awarded a full 4 year scholarship in music to the University of Bridgeport and earned a BA in Music Performance and then was then awarded a scholarship for his Masters (MA in Music Education) Even though James was accepted to 5 of the 6 colleges in music he felt that The University Of Bridgeport offered the best skill set based on the schools history.
Post college, James had worked in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut in radio on air an off as well as streaming on a platform online from 2006-2011 reaching a world audience of 6 million listeners in one single year.
James also has done numerous studio sessions @ The Carriage House Studios for many established as well as up and coming artists.
Performance wise James has worked with many local wedding / Trios / Quartets as well as accompanying many vocals and instrumentalists and has had the honor of working with Tower of Power , Spyro Gyra and Chircago
Then Came Covid 19…….
During this time we all wondered what the world would become. James went in his home studio and started writing from the heart and the music began to flow .
In 2022 , James launched a musical campaign unlike any other. He released 4 albums, many EP’s and singles, has been featured on various podcasts and radio shows as well as many print publications as well as entering new territory by being featured on radio in the UK and all of his music can be found on all streaming services such as Spoitfy, AmazonMusic, Itunes, Deezer, Pandora, IHeart just to name a few.
From collaberations with artists abroad, to artists here in the states James is looking to write music for not only himself but to work with many artists and propel his music in more streaming services, movies and live performances.
And in the words of The Carpenters ……” We’ve Only Just Begun ”
Thank You For Getting To Know me more and hope you enjoy the music.
