John-Edward Kelly
Encyclopedia
John-Edward Kelly is an American conductor of classical music and classical saxophonist.He has performed at major concert halls in most European countries, as well as many other parts of the world, and for many years was the only classical saxophone soloist to support himself entirely by performing. He has lectured extensively about aesthetics and contemporary music, and his series of lectures on "The Art of Listening" has been incorporated into a book of the same name (unpublished). He was a professor of chamber music at the Robert Schumann Academy of Music in Duesseldorf and a professor of saxophone and contemporary chamber music at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo.
After a 30-year international career as a classical saxophonist, he has returned more and more to conducting in recent years.
.
He founded the Alloys Ensemblehttp://www.johnedwardkelly.com/files/alloys.htm (saxophone, cello, piano & percussion) in 1994.
Kelly founded The Kelly Quartethttp://www.kellyquartet.com/ in 2004. The quartet consisted of Kelly and three former students.
Kelly is artistic director of the Arcos Chamber Orchestrahttp://www.arcos-orchestra.com of New York, which he co-founded in 2005.
, Germany from 1996-2003.
He was professor of saxophone and contemporary chamber music at the Norwegian Academy of Music
in Oslo
, Norway
from 2000-2005.
He has lectured and served as a guest professor in London, The Hague, Hamburg, Düsseldorf, Helsinki, Rochester, Stuttgart, Lyon, Oslo, York, and other cities, and has published articles concerning aesthetics
, contemporary music and the saxophone
.
Kelly has performed as a soloist with many leading orchestras including the Stockholm Philharmonic, Helsinki Philharmonic, Berliner Staatskapelle, Deutsches Sinfonieorchester, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
, Munich Philharmonic, Munich Chamber Orchestra
, Radio Symphony Orchestra Stuttgart, Gewandhausorchester, Rotterdam Chamber Orchestra, Swedish Radio Orchestra, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra
, Staatskapelle Dresden, Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra, Swedish Chamber Orchestra
, Residentie Orkest, Polish Chamber Orchestra, Orchester der Beethoven-Halle Bonn and Radio Philharmonisch Orkest (Holland).
Kelly has given the first performances of more than 200 works for saxophone, including 30 concertos for saxophone and orchestra. His performing repertoire consists primarily of works written expressly for him.
In 1995 he played the world premiere of Dimitri Terzakis
's saxophone concerto, which was broadcast live to 27 nations.
Composers who have written works for Kelly include:
Samuel Adler
, Kalevi Aho
, Osvaldas Balakauskas
, Jürg Baur
, Erik Bergman
, David Blake
, John Boda
, Thomas Böttger
, Herbert Callhoff, Michael Denhoff
, Violeta Dinescu
, Brian Elias
, Anders Eliasson
, Werner Wolf Glaser
, Sampo Haapamäki, Ingvar Karkoff, Maurice Karkoff, Tristan Keuris
, Hans Kox, Nicola LeFanu
, Otmar Mácha, Tera de Marez-Oyens, Miklós Maros
, Gérard Masson
, Roland Leistner-Mayer, Krzysztof Meyer
, Gráinne Mulvey
, Pehr-Henrik Nordgren, Enrique Raxach, Uros Rojko, Jan Sandström
, Sven-David Sandström
, Leif Segerstam
, Manfred Stahnke
, Dimitri Terzakis
, Stefan Thomas, Friedrich Voss, and Iannis Xenakis
His recordings include:
in 1999.
He is a licensed commercial airplane pilot
and flight instructor
.
Kelly authored a pamphlet titled "The Acoustics of the Saxophone from a Phenomenological Perspective" which is offered for sale on his web site.
After a 30-year international career as a classical saxophonist, he has returned more and more to conducting in recent years.
Ensembles
Kelly was invited by Sigurd Rascher in 1981 to take his place as the alto saxophonist in the Rascher Saxophone QuartetRaschèr Saxophone Quartet
The Raschèr Saxophone Quartet is a professional ensemble of four saxophonists which performs classical and modern music.Like most saxophone quartets, the RSQ features one player on each of the four most common sizes of saxophone: soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone.The quartet was founded in the...
.
He founded the Alloys Ensemblehttp://www.johnedwardkelly.com/files/alloys.htm (saxophone, cello, piano & percussion) in 1994.
Kelly founded The Kelly Quartethttp://www.kellyquartet.com/ in 2004. The quartet consisted of Kelly and three former students.
Kelly is artistic director of the Arcos Chamber Orchestrahttp://www.arcos-orchestra.com of New York, which he co-founded in 2005.
Teaching positions
He was professor of contemporary chamber music at the Robert Schumann Academy of Music in DüsseldorfDüsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
, Germany from 1996-2003.
He was professor of saxophone and contemporary chamber music at the Norwegian Academy of Music
Norwegian Academy of Music
The Norwegian Academy of Music is a music conservatory located in Oslo, Norway, in the neighbourhood of Majorstuen, Frogner. It is the largest music academy in Norway and offers the country's highest level of music education. As a university college, it offers both undergraduate and postgraduate...
in Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
from 2000-2005.
He has lectured and served as a guest professor in London, The Hague, Hamburg, Düsseldorf, Helsinki, Rochester, Stuttgart, Lyon, Oslo, York, and other cities, and has published articles concerning aesthetics
Aesthetics
Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art, and taste, and with the creation and appreciation of beauty. It is more scientifically defined as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values, sometimes called judgments of sentiment and taste...
, contemporary music and the saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
.
Concert appearances
Kelly has concertized extensively throughout Europe, in North and South America and in the Middle East, and has appeared on radio and television hundreds of times.Kelly has performed as a soloist with many leading orchestras including the Stockholm Philharmonic, Helsinki Philharmonic, Berliner Staatskapelle, Deutsches Sinfonieorchester, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
The Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, in German Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks is the internationally renowned orchestra of the Bayerischer Rundfunk , based in Munich, Germany. It is one of the three principal orchestras in the city of Munich, along with the Munich Philharmonic...
, Munich Philharmonic, Munich Chamber Orchestra
Munich Chamber Orchestra
The Munich Chamber Orchestra is a professional chamber orchestra in Munich, Germany, known for programming contemporary music along with the classical repertory.-History:...
, Radio Symphony Orchestra Stuttgart, Gewandhausorchester, Rotterdam Chamber Orchestra, Swedish Radio Orchestra, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra
Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra
The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra is a Finnish orchestra based in Helsinki, and is the chief radio orchestra of the Finnish Broadcasting Company . The orchestra primarily gives concerts at the Helsinki Music Centre...
, Staatskapelle Dresden, Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra, Swedish Chamber Orchestra
Swedish Chamber Orchestra
The Swedish Chamber Orchestra is Scandinavia's only full-time professional chamber orchestra. It was established in May 1995 by merging a string orchestra, the Örebro Kammarorkester with a wind ensemble, the Örebro Kammarblåsare...
, Residentie Orkest, Polish Chamber Orchestra, Orchester der Beethoven-Halle Bonn and Radio Philharmonisch Orkest (Holland).
Premieres of works for saxophone
In 1995 he played the world premiere of Dimitri Terzakis
Dimitri Terzakis
Dimitri Terzakis is a Greek composer. His father was the author Angelos Terzakis.From 1959–1964 Terzakis studied composition with Yannis Papaioannou at the Athens Hellenic Conservatory, followed by five years spent at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne, Germany where he studied composition with...
's saxophone concerto, which was broadcast live to 27 nations.
Composers who have written works for Kelly include:
Samuel Adler
Samuel Adler (composer)
Samuel Hans Adler is an American composer and conductor.-Biography:Adler was born to a Jewish family in Mannheim, Germany, the son of Hugo Chaim Adler, a cantor and composer, and Selma Adler. The family fled to the United States in 1939, where Hugo became the cantor of Temple Emanuel in...
, Kalevi Aho
Kalevi Aho
Kalevi Aho is a Finnish composer.- Career :Born in Forssa, he studied composition at the Sibelius Academy under Einojuhani Rautavaara, receiving a diploma in 1971. He continued his studies for a year in Berlin with Boris Blacher...
, Osvaldas Balakauskas
Osvaldas Balakauskas
Osvaldas Balakauskas is a Lithuanian composer of classical music.- Career :Balakauskas graduated from Vilnius Pedagogical University in 1961. After his mandatory service in the Soviet Army between 1961 and 1964, he studied composition with Boris Lyatoshinsky and M. M. Skorik at Kiev Conservatory...
, Jürg Baur
Jürg Baur
Jürg Baur was a German composer of classical music.-Education:Baur was born in Düsseldorf, where he achieved early recognition as a composer at the age of 18, when his First String Quartet was premiered at the Düsseldorf Hindenburg Secondary School by the then-famous Prisca Quartet...
, Erik Bergman
Erik Bergman
Erik Valdemar Bergman was an influential composer of classical music from Finland.Bergman's style ranged widely, from Romanticism in his early works to modernism and primitivism, among other genres...
, David Blake
David Blake (composer)
David Blake is a British composer born in London in 1936. Following National Service Blake learnt Mandarin Chinese and spent one year in Hong Kong. He went on to read music at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, where his teachers were Patrick Hadley, Peter Tranchell and Raymond Leppard...
, John Boda
John Boda
John Boda was a professor of music theory, composition and piano at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida between 1947 and 2001. His papers and collection are at the Warren D. Allen Music Library....
, Thomas Böttger
Thomas Böttger
Thomas Böttger is a German composer and pianist. From 1975 to 1980 he studied composition and piano at the Berlin College of Music "Hanns Eisler". From 1980 to 1981 he studied with Tadeusz Baird at the Fryderyk Chopin Music Academy in Warsaw. From 1981 to 1983 he was a master's student of Ruth...
, Herbert Callhoff, Michael Denhoff
Michael Denhoff
Michael Denhoff is a German composer and cellist.-Life:Denhoff has lived and worked in Bonn since 1982. He studied at the Musikhochschule in Cologne, where his teachers included Günter Bialas and Hans Werner Henze , Siegfried Palm and Erling Blöndal Bengtsson and the Amadeus Quartet...
, Violeta Dinescu
Violeta Dinescu
Violeta Dinescu is a Romanian composer, pianist and professor, living in Germany since 1982.-Romania:Violeta Dinescu began her studies of music in 1972 at the conservatory Ciprian Porumbescu in Bucharest, composition with Myriam Marbe. In 1978 she received her master's degree, with distinction...
, Brian Elias
Brian Elias
Brian Elias is a British composer.- Career highlights :*1965 - commenced informal composition studies with Elisabeth Lutyens.*1984 - L’Eylah premiered at the BBC Proms....
, Anders Eliasson
Anders Eliasson
Anders Eliasson is a Swedish composer. He has composed several symphonies among other works, including a solo Disegno per trombone in the repertoire of Christian Lindberg.-External links:...
, Werner Wolf Glaser
Werner Wolf Glaser
Werner Wolf Glaser was a German-born Swedish composer, conductor, pianist, professor, music critic, and poet.-Life:...
, Sampo Haapamäki, Ingvar Karkoff, Maurice Karkoff, Tristan Keuris
Tristan Keuris
Tristan Keuris was a Dutch composer.Keuris initially studied with Jan van Vlijmen in Amersfoort. At the age of 15 he started his studies with Ton de Leeuw at the Utrecht Conservatory. Upon graduating from the conservatory he received the 'Prijs voor compositie'...
, Hans Kox, Nicola LeFanu
Nicola LeFanu
Nicola LeFanu is a British composer, academic, lecturer and director.-Life:Nicola LeFanu was born in England to William LeFanu and Elizabeth Maconchy . She studied at St Hilda's College, Oxford, before taking up a Harkness Fellowship at Harvard. In 1972 she won the Mendelssohn Scholarship...
, Otmar Mácha, Tera de Marez-Oyens, Miklós Maros
Miklós Maros
Miklós Maros is a Hungarian composer. He was born in Pécs, the son of composer Rudolf Maros and violinist Klára Molnár. He studied at the Béla Bartók Conservatory of Budapest with Rezsö Sugár and at the Ferenc Liszt Music Academy with Ferenc Szabó, and continued his studies in Stockholm with...
, Gérard Masson
Gérard Masson
- Biography :Gérard Masson grew up listening to jazz, played jazz trumpet, and began studying the piano in 1945, but had no formal training in composition until, after military service in Algeria, he returned to France in 1962. He approached Max Deutsch, who sent Masson to one of his students for...
, Roland Leistner-Mayer, Krzysztof Meyer
Krzysztof Meyer
Krzysztof Meyer is a Polish composer, pianist and music scholar.-Biography:Meyer was born in Cracow. As a boy he played piano and organ. He began his composition study early – in 1954, with Stanisław Wiechowicz...
, Gráinne Mulvey
Gráinne Mulvey
Gráinne Mulvey is an Irish composer.-Biography:She studied with Eric Sweeney at Waterford Regional Technical College, Hormoz Farhat at Trinity College Dublin and Agustín Fernández at Queen's University, Belfast. In 1999 she gained a DPhil in Composition at the University of York under Nicola LeFanu...
, Pehr-Henrik Nordgren, Enrique Raxach, Uros Rojko, Jan Sandström
Jan Sandström (composer)
Jan Sandström is a Swedish classical music composer, known for the so-called Motorbike Concerto for trombone and orchestra and his choral setting of Es ist ein Ros entsprungen.-Career:...
, Sven-David Sandström
Sven-David Sandström
Sven-David Sandström is a Swedish composer best known for his compositions operas, oratorios, battets, and choral works, as well as orchestral works.Sandström studied art history and musicology at Stockholm University...
, Leif Segerstam
Leif Segerstam
Leif Segerstam is a Finnish conductor and composer.He studied violin, piano and conducting at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and conducting at the Juilliard School in New York with Jean Morel....
, Manfred Stahnke
Manfred Stahnke
Manfred Stahnke is a German composer and musicologist from Kiel. He writes chamber music, orchestral music and stage music. His music is notably known for his use of microtonality.- Life:...
, Dimitri Terzakis
Dimitri Terzakis
Dimitri Terzakis is a Greek composer. His father was the author Angelos Terzakis.From 1959–1964 Terzakis studied composition with Yannis Papaioannou at the Athens Hellenic Conservatory, followed by five years spent at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne, Germany where he studied composition with...
, Stefan Thomas, Friedrich Voss, and Iannis Xenakis
Iannis Xenakis
Iannis Xenakis was a Romanian-born Greek ethnic, naturalized French composer, music theorist, and architect-engineer. He is commonly recognized as one of the most important post-war avant-garde composers...
Recordings
Kelly is featured in 31 commercial recordings. His 1988 recording with the Dutch Pianist Bob Versteegh was possibly the first commercial CD of solo classical saxophone music ever released.His recordings include:
- John-Edward Kelly & Bob Versteegh (3 volumes) (1987, 1991, 1994) - Col legno Musikproduktionen AU031805, AU031817, and WWE1CD31885
- Works for Saxophone & Orchestra by IbertJacques IbertJacques François Antoine Ibert was a French composer. Having studied music from an early age, he studied at the Paris Conservatoire and won its top prize, the Prix de Rome at his first attempt, despite studies interrupted by his service in World War I.Ibert pursued a successful composing career,...
, LarssonLars-Erik LarssonLars-Erik Larsson was a notable Swedish composer of the 20th century.-Biography:Lars-Erik Vilner Larsson was born in Åkarp in 1908...
, & MartinFrank Martin (composer)Frank Martin was a Swiss composer, who lived a large part of his life in the Netherlands.-Childhood and youth:...
, BMG (with the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra) (1991) - Arte Nova 74321277 - Miklós MarosMiklós MarosMiklós Maros is a Hungarian composer. He was born in Pécs, the son of composer Rudolf Maros and violinist Klára Molnár. He studied at the Béla Bartók Conservatory of Budapest with Rezsö Sugár and at the Ferenc Liszt Music Academy with Ferenc Szabó, and continued his studies in Stockholm with...
Saxophone Concerto (with the Symphony Orchestra of Czech State Radio Prague) (1990) - Phono Suecia PS-CD-23 - Pehr Henrik NordgrenPehr Henrik NordgrenPehr Henrik Nordgren was a Finnish composer.-Life:Pehr Henrik Nordgren received composition lessons starting from 1958 in Helsinki and studied musicology at the university from 1962 to 1967, as well as receiving private tuition from Joonas Kokkonen from 1965 to 1969...
Saxophone Concerto (with the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra) (1995) - Finlandia 3984233922 - Allan PetterssonAllan PetterssonGustav Allan Pettersson was a Swedish composer. Today he is considered one of the most important Swedish composers of the 20th century...
Symphony No. 16 (with the Sinfonie-Orchester des Saarländischen Rundfunks) (1995) - CPO 9992842 - Jan SandströmJan Sandström (composer)Jan Sandström is a Swedish classical music composer, known for the so-called Motorbike Concerto for trombone and orchestra and his choral setting of Es ist ein Ros entsprungen.-Career:...
- My Assam Dragon (with the Swedish Radio Symphony OrchestraSwedish Radio Symphony OrchestraSwedish Radio Symphony Orchestra is a radio orchestra based in Stockholm, Sweden, and affiliated with Sveriges Radio . The orchestra broadcasts concerts on the Swedish Radio-P2 network....
(1995) - Phono Suecia PSCD87 - John-Edward Kelly Alone (1999) - Emergo Classics EC39322
- Hans Kox - Concertino (with the Norwegian Winds) (1991) - Attaca-Babel 92621
- Hans Kox - Through a Glass, Darkly (1992) - Attaca-Babel 9374
- Viktor UllmannViktor UllmannViktor Ullmann was a Silesia-born Austrian, later Czech composer, conductor and pianist of Jewish origin.- Biography :...
- Slawische Rhapsodie (with the Deutsche Sinfonieorchester Berlin) (1998) - Orfeo C419981A - Tristan KeurisTristan KeurisTristan Keuris was a Dutch composer.Keuris initially studied with Jan van Vlijmen in Amersfoort. At the age of 15 he started his studies with Ton de Leeuw at the Utrecht Conservatory. Upon graduating from the conservatory he received the 'Prijs voor compositie'...
- Laudi (with the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra) (1994) - Emergo Classics EC39332 - Dimitri TerzakisDimitri TerzakisDimitri Terzakis is a Greek composer. His father was the author Angelos Terzakis.From 1959–1964 Terzakis studied composition with Yannis Papaioannou at the Athens Hellenic Conservatory, followed by five years spent at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne, Germany where he studied composition with...
- Konflikte (1997) - ProViva 7198585 (ISVP185CD) - Tristan KeurisTristan KeurisTristan Keuris was a Dutch composer.Keuris initially studied with Jan van Vlijmen in Amersfoort. At the age of 15 he started his studies with Ton de Leeuw at the Utrecht Conservatory. Upon graduating from the conservatory he received the 'Prijs voor compositie'...
- Three Sonnets (2001) - Anders EliassonAnders EliassonAnders Eliasson is a Swedish composer. He has composed several symphonies among other works, including a solo Disegno per trombone in the repertoire of Christian Lindberg.-External links:...
- Symphony No. 3 (2001) - Pehr Henrik NordgrenPehr Henrik NordgrenPehr Henrik Nordgren was a Finnish composer.-Life:Pehr Henrik Nordgren received composition lessons starting from 1958 in Helsinki and studied musicology at the university from 1962 to 1967, as well as receiving private tuition from Joonas Kokkonen from 1965 to 1969...
- Phantasme (2001) - Hans Kox - Face-to-Face (2001)
- The Alloys Ensemble (2001)
Other
Kelly was elected to the Royal Swedish Academy of MusicRoyal Swedish Academy of Music
The Royal Swedish Academy of Music or Kungl. Musikaliska Akademien, founded in 1771 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies in Sweden...
in 1999.
He is a licensed commercial airplane pilot
Aviator
An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...
and flight instructor
Flight instructor
A flight instructor is a person who teaches others to fly aircraft. Specific privileges granted to holders of a flight instructor qualification vary from country to country, but very generally, a flight instructor serves to enhance or evaluate the knowledge and skill level of an aviator in pursuit...
.
Kelly authored a pamphlet titled "The Acoustics of the Saxophone from a Phenomenological Perspective" which is offered for sale on his web site.
External links
- John-Edward Kelly
- Arcos Orchestra
- Kelly Quartet
- Alloys Ensemble
- Article by Kelly on the life of Sigurd RaschèrSigurd RaschèrSigurd Manfred Raschèr was an American saxophonist of German birth. He became one of the most important figures in the development of the 20th century repertoire for the classical saxophone.-Career in Europe:...
- Kelly biographical information on the Naumberg Concert Artists