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'''John-Edward Kelly''" is an American conductor of classical music and [[European classical music|classical]] [[saxophonist]].
John-Edward Kelly is an American conductor of classical music and [[European classical music|classical]] [[saxophonist]].


Kelly was born in [[San Francisco]] and grew up in [[Illinois]]. He was barely seven years old when he declared after a concert conducted by George Szell that "I will become a conductor someday". Following clarinet lessons with renowned St. Louis music teacher George Tuerck and St. Louis Symphony principal clarinetist George Silfies, he accepted a scholarship to the Florida State University School of Music to study with clarinetist Harry Schmidt. While at Florida State (1976-1978), he also had lessons with John Boda, Charles Delaney and Patrick Meighan, but more importantly pursued a keen interest in philosophy developed during his youth. He accepted an invitation by Prof. Eugene Kaelin to join a graduate seminar on the philosophy of aesthetics as the only undergraduate participant. A very important influence during this period were private lessons with St. Louis Symphony Orchestra principal cellist John Sant'Ambrogio, whose string-player perspectives changed forever Kelly's attitudes towards musical interpretation. In 1978, he was invited by Sigurd Rascher to study privately with him at his New York home, and he abandoned his university studies to pursue this unique opportunity. This invitation also led him to set aside once and for all his youthful dedication to the clarinet. Following two years of intensive studies with Sigurd Rascher (1978-1980), Kelly completed his formal musical studies at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (1980-1981).
Kelly was born in [[San Francisco]] and grew up in [[Illinois]]. He was barely seven years old when he declared after a concert conducted by George Szell that "I will become a conductor someday". Following clarinet lessons with renowned St. Louis music teacher George Tuerck and St. Louis Symphony principal clarinetist George Silfies, he accepted a scholarship to the Florida State University School of Music to study with clarinetist Harry Schmidt. While at Florida State (1976-1978), he also had lessons with John Boda, Charles Delaney and Patrick Meighan, but more importantly pursued a keen interest in philosophy developed during his youth. He accepted an invitation by Prof. Eugene Kaelin to join a graduate seminar on the philosophy of aesthetics as the only undergraduate participant. A very important influence during this period were private lessons with St. Louis Symphony Orchestra principal cellist John Sant'Ambrogio, whose string-player perspectives changed forever Kelly's attitudes towards musical interpretation. In 1978, he was invited by Sigurd Rascher to study privately with him at his New York home, and he abandoned his university studies to pursue this unique opportunity. This invitation also led him to set aside once and for all his youthful dedication to the clarinet. Following two years of intensive studies with Sigurd Rascher (1978-1980), Kelly completed his formal musical studies at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (1980-1981).

Revision as of 07:23, 10 February 2010

John-Edward Kelly is an American conductor of classical music and classical saxophonist.

Kelly was born in San Francisco and grew up in Illinois. He was barely seven years old when he declared after a concert conducted by George Szell that "I will become a conductor someday". Following clarinet lessons with renowned St. Louis music teacher George Tuerck and St. Louis Symphony principal clarinetist George Silfies, he accepted a scholarship to the Florida State University School of Music to study with clarinetist Harry Schmidt. While at Florida State (1976-1978), he also had lessons with John Boda, Charles Delaney and Patrick Meighan, but more importantly pursued a keen interest in philosophy developed during his youth. He accepted an invitation by Prof. Eugene Kaelin to join a graduate seminar on the philosophy of aesthetics as the only undergraduate participant. A very important influence during this period were private lessons with St. Louis Symphony Orchestra principal cellist John Sant'Ambrogio, whose string-player perspectives changed forever Kelly's attitudes towards musical interpretation. In 1978, he was invited by Sigurd Rascher to study privately with him at his New York home, and he abandoned his university studies to pursue this unique opportunity. This invitation also led him to set aside once and for all his youthful dedication to the clarinet. Following two years of intensive studies with Sigurd Rascher (1978-1980), Kelly completed his formal musical studies at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (1980-1981).

In 1981, Kelly was invited by Sigurd Rascher to take his place in the Rascher Saxophone Quartet. After an initial German tour in 1982, Kelly successfully urged the re-establishment of the Rascher Quartet as a full-time ensemble based in Germany. For nine years, he was an instrumental force in the quartet's international successes, and the composers he enlisted to write for the ensemble included Tristan Keuris, Hans Kox, Enrique Raxach, Nicola LeFanu, Iannis Xenakis, Wolfgang von Schweinitz, Sven-David Sandström, Miklós Maros, Gérard Masson, Maurice Karkoff, Erik Bergman and many others. During his first year in Germany, Kelly taught at the Calwer Musikschule in the birthplace of Hermann Hesse, near Stuttgart (1982-83). Kelly resigned from the Rascher Quartet in March, 1990, to pursue other interests, including the development of an impressive repertoire for the alto saxophone as a solo instrument. 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.[1]

Ensembles

Kelly was invited by Sigurd Rascher in 1981 to take his place as the alto saxophonist in the Rascher Saxophone Quartet.

He founded the Alloys Ensemble[1] (saxophone, cello, piano & percussion) in 1994.

Kelly founded The Kelly Quartet[2] in 2004. The quartet consisted of Kelly and three former students.

Kelly is artistic director of the Arcos Chamber Orchestra[3] 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 Düsseldorf, Germany from 1996-2003.

He was professor of saxophone and contemporary chamber music at the Norwegian State 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.

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, Symphony Orchestra of the Bavarian Radio, Munich Philharmonic, Munich Chamber Orchestra, Radio-Sinfonie-Orchester Stuttgart, Gewandhaus-Orchester, Rotterdam Chamber Orchestra, Swedish Radio Orchestra, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Dresdner Staatskapelle, Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra, Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Residentie Orkest, Polish Chamber Orchestra, Orchester der Beethoven-Halle Bonn and Radio Philharmonisch Orkest (Holland).

Premieres of works for saxophone

J. E. Kelly (r.) with K. Meyer (l.) after the first performance of his concerto, January 1994

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

Recordings

Kelly is featured in 31 commercial recordings. His 1985 recording with the Dutch Pianist Bob Versteegh was the first commercial CD of solo classical saxophone music ever released.

His recordings include:

Other

Kelly was elected to the Royal Swedish Academy of Music 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.

References

  1. ^ "PDF document on Arcos Chamber Orchestra web site" (PDF). Retrieved 2007-06-07.
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