James Mauck enjoys performing and teaching many styles of music that reach beyond the humble cornfields of the Midwest. He works as an accompanist and composer for the Dance Department at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, Adjunct Professor of Percussion at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, and performs as an acousto-electronic improviser under the title, Forebeat. 

In 2018, he created his solo musical project, Forebeat, which combines drum set and acousto-electronics, and blends free-flowing improvisation with sequenced synthesizers and pre-recorded samples. While performing as Forebeat, James has had the honor of collaborating with prestigious improvisors such as Bloomington-Normals own Stefan Robinson (Yea Big), Chicago’s Jason Stein and Avreeayl Ra (Sun Ra Arkestra), and international artists Tatsuya Nakatani and Ryosuke Kiyasu. He released his debut album, Duality (2019) and was commissioned to compose the music for Cynthia Oliver’s dance work, Summon. Sow. Reap. (2023) which premiered at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts.

James is also sought after as an on-call drummer and percussionist across the Midwest and has had the chance to share the stage with artists/ensembles such as Gavin Lee (West End/Broadway), Sara Caswell (Esperanza Spalding), Charlie Ballantine, the Danville Symphony Orchestra, the Owensboro Symphony Orchestra, and the Lafayette Symphony Orchestra.

He received his B.M. in Percussion Performance from Eastern Illinois University and M.M. in Jazz Performance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.