Sir James Galway
OBE (born December 8, 1939) is a Northern Ireland–born virtuoso flutist from Belfast, nicknamed "The Man With the Golden Flute". Following in the footsteps of Jean-Pierre Rampal, he became one of the first flute players to establish an international career as a soloist.
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SIR JAMES GALWAY TICKETS
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Education
James Galway studied at the
Royal College of Music under John Francis and then at the
Guildhall School of Music under
Geoffrey Gilbert. He then studied at the
Paris Conservatoire under
Gaston Crunelle and
Jean-Pierre Rampal and also privately with
Marcel Moyse.
Career
After his education time he spent 15 years as an orchestral player.
[1] Galway played with the
Philharmonia Orchestra as it rose to prominence in the 1950s.
He then played with
Sadler's Wells Opera,
Covent Garden Opera, the
London Symphony Orchestra and the
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
He auditioned for the
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under
Herbert von Karajan, and was principal flute of that orchestra from 1969 to 1975. To Karajan's surprise and dismay, after a period of some disagreement, "Jimmy" Galway decided that he would leave to pursue a solo career.
In addition to his performances of the standard classical repertoire, he features contemporary music in his programs, including new flute works commissioned by and for him by composers including
David Amram,
Malcolm Arnold,
William Bolcom,
John Corigliano,
Dave Heath,
Lowell Liebermann and
Joaquín Rodrigo. The album "In Ireland" by "James Galway and the Chieftains" reached number 32 in the UK album charts in 1987.
He still performs regularly and is one of the world's most well-known flute players.
He is Principal Guest Conductor of the
London Mozart Players, based at the
Fairfield Halls,
Croydon,
South London.
[2]
Most recently, Galway has performed for the Academy Award-winning ensemble recording the soundtracks of
Peter Jackson's
Lord of the Rings
film trilogy, composed by
Howard Shore.
In June 2008, Galway was inducted into the
Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame along with
Liza Minnelli and
B. B. King.
He currently performs on Nagahara flutes, as well as some
Muramatsu Flutes.
Personal
In the 1970s Galway moved from Berlin to
Lucerne, Switzerland, the home town of his second wife, Anna (Annie) Renggli, one of the daughters of a well-known local architect. They had twins and a son. In 1978 he recorded for her the famous instrumental version of
John Denver's "
Annie's Song". After their divorce he moved to
Meggen, Switzerland, a village next to Lucerne, where he resides now with his third wife, U.S.-born Jeanne (née Cinnante). They often tour together playing duets, accompanied by Phillip Moll on piano. In addition, they give masterclasses for flutists of all levels.
Galway is also president of a global organisation called , a charitable organisation which supports young flute players,
run by Liz Goodwin.
In 2003 he formed the Music Education Consortium together with
Julian Lloyd Webber,
Evelyn Glennie and
Michael Kamen to pressure the British Government into providing better music education in schools.
He was made an
OBE in 1977 and was
knighted in 2001.
Galway's nephew,
Martin Galway, is a musician famous for his work on
Commodore 64 computer game music in the 1980s.
Publications
- Galway, James. (1982). Flute
. Yehudi Menuhin Music Guides. London: Macdonald. ISBN 0356047113 (cloth); ISBN 0356047121 (pbk.) New York: Schirmer Books. ISBN 002871380X Reprinted 1990, London: Kahn & Averill London: Khan & Averill ISBN 1871082137
Media
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Notes
- Niall O’Loughlin/Richard Wigmore, 'Galway, Sir James', ''Grove Music Online'', [1], accessed 13 July 2007
- http://www.lmp.org/LMPmore/guestconductor.htm