John-Edward Kelly

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John-Edward Kelly, (born 1958) is an American conductor of classical music and classical saxophonist and conductor living in then Germany, now Florida.

Kelly was born in San Francisco and grew up in Illinois. He attended the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and studied privately with saxophonist Sigurd Raschèr for two years.

After a 30-year career as a classical saxophonist, he has in recent years turned more to conducting.[1]

Contents

[edit] Ensembles

Kelly joined the Raschèr Saxophone Quartet in 1981; he was chosen by Sigurd Raschèr to succeed Raschèr as the quartet's alto saxophonist. He moved to Germany in 1982 and was a member of the Quartet for ten years.

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

Kelly founded The Kelly Quartet[2] in 2004. The quartet, based in Germany, consists of Kelly and several of his former students.

Kelly is artistic director of the Arcos Chamber Orchestra[3], which he co-founded in 2005.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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).

[edit] Premieres of works for saxophone

J. E. Kelly (r.) with K. Meyer (l.) after the first performance of his concerto, January 1994
J. E. Kelly (r.) with K. Meyer (l.) after the first performance of his concerto, January 1994
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Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion.

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, 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

[edit] Recordings

Kelly is featured in 29 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:

  • John-Edward Kelly & Bob Versteegh (3 volumes) (1987, 1991, 1994) - Col legno Musikproduktionen AU031805, AU031817, and WWE1CD31885
  • Works for Saxophone & Orchestra by Ibert, Larsson, & Martin, BMG (with the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra) (1991) - Arte Nova 74321277
  • Miklós Maros Saxophone Concerto (with the Symphony Orchestra of Czech State Radio Prague) (1990) - Phono Suecia PS-CD-23
  • Pehr Henrik Nordgren Saxophone Concerto (with the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra) (1995) - Finlandia 3984233922
  • Allan Pettersson Symphony No. 16 (with the Sinfonie-Orchester des Saarländischen Rundfunks) (1995) - CPO 9992842
  • Jan Sandström - My Assam Dragon (with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra (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 Ullmann - Slawische Rhapsodie (with the Deutsche Sinfonieorchester Berlin) (1998) - Orfeo C419981A
  • Tristan Keuris - Laudi (with the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra) (1994) - Emergo Classics EC39332
  • Dimitri Terzakis - Konflikte (1997) - ProViva 7198585 (ISVP185CD)
  • Tristan Keuris - Three Sonnets (2001)
  • Anders Eliasson - Symphony No. 3 (2001)
  • Pehr Henrik Nordgren - Phantasme (2001)
  • Hans Kox - Face-to-Face (2001)
  • The Alloys Ensemble (2001)

[edit] 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.

[edit] References

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

[edit] External links