Sir James Galway A Flute Rockstar

By Jacob Call

March 11, 2012

Sir James Galway is widely known among flutists and non-flutists alike. His music is popular throughout the world among all people, whether or not they consider themselves classical music lovers. He has attained such high status in his profession that Queen Elizabeth II decided to knight him. He has received numerous public awards including the Grammy and Billboard Music awards. His music has also touched many moviegoers who enjoyed his Irish flute playing in the movie trilogy The Lord of the Rings. Most musicians would consider musical success to be high record sales, the achievement of worldwide recognition, extensive solo tours and fulfillment in their personal life. Galway achieved success in all these areas through his raw talent and lots of practicing. James was born in Belfast, Ireland on the 8th of December, 1939 (Wikipedia, James Galway). He grew up on in a Protestant ghetto, living a happy life with a family who was not very wealthy. A World War II bomb meant for the nearby shipyard destroyed the house he was born in. His family was lucky and survived but had to move up the street. (Galway). His friends called him Little Jimmy. He was raised in a musical household, his mother played the piano and both his father and grandfather played the flute. Jimmy didnt like music lessons and liked to play a tin penny-whistle. (Galway). After failing to learn the violin he began to seriously practice the flute. He was pretty good at it. He said, From the

3 beginning, there was something about flute music that grabbed meThere was no other way in which I could so express myself (Galway). Jimmy had natural abilities on the flute. He entered the Irish Flute Championships at age ten showing his family that we was a really incredible player. In the contest, there were two age categories and one open category. Little Jimmy boldly entered all three categories. He was younger than the other contestants and completely inexperienced at competition. When they announced the winners, he was surprised to learn that he had won first prize in all three categories (Galway). Galway received most of his musical education from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, the Royal College of Music, and the Paris Conservatory (Superflute). The influential flute teachers in his life were Geoffrey Gilbert and John Francis. Francis coached him in the ways of being a musician while Gilbert honed his flute playing technique (Galway). Galway has played with lots of orchestras and ensembles and has soloed was the world famous London Symphony Orchestra. Later, in January 1969, Galway was invited to audition at the Berlin Philharmonic. He showed up at the audition, at noon and was surprised to find no audition occurring. He later found out that he missed getting a telegram moving the audition time to 9:00 am. He had missed the audition completely. After a lot of fuss, he was allowed play in front of the entire Philharmonic as an audition. The audition piece he had prepared was rejected they asked him to play a different one. They then started throwing

4 out different songs and he was expected to play them from memory. After making him wait for a while, they brought in four other flutists and they took turns performing more excerpts. In the end, they decided to choose Galway but by then he thought they were so rude he almost didnt take the job. (Galway). He did though and his career was launched to new heights. During his time playing with the Berlin Philharmonic Galway got divorced from his first wife and met his second wife, Annie. He married her in 1972 (Salvation Army, In Tune). James Galway was 32 when he started playing with the Berlin Philharmonic; he stated there until 1975 (Wikipedia James Galway). The performers in the Berlin Philharmonic wanted to be the ambassadors for Berlin. They toured for four months of every year. But it didnt last. He started to feel like he wanted to pursue a solo career. Eventually, he decided to leave the Berlin Philharmonic. He quickly found other gigs and during his first year he performed 120 concerts (Superflute). James Galways solo career was very successful. Not only did he tour around the entire world, but he became very popular in mainstream music. In 1978 he was struck by a motorcycle which put him into traction and a required a long rehabilitation. Galway was cared for by his wife furing this time so he decided to thank her by recording of John Denvers Annies Song. The recording hit the top of the charts people started thinking of him as a pop star as well as a classical artist (Galway).

5 Galway struggled in his personal life. He divorced his second wife shortly after recording Annies Song for her and remarried a third time. This one didnt take either and he was divorced once again very shortly thereafter (Salvation Army In Tune). He never gave up though and when he met Jeanne, a fellow flutist he fell in love with her and has remained married to her for twenty-three years. They have recorded many songs together and they often perform duets. Galways increased personal happiness seemed to help and he had an even greater rise in public success. In his career, he has released more than fifty albums with RCA Victor, he has collaborated with many other famous musicians, and he has received several very prestigious awards. He earned the Musician Of the Year award from Musical America in 1997, the Record of the Year awards from Billboard and the Grand Prix du Disque for his Mozart Flute Concertos (Superflute). His highest honor of course was the recognition by Queen Elizabeth II in 2001 with the merit of Knighthood. (Superflute). James Galway achieved wide success around the world with audiences young and old. Classical music lovers and people listening to the radio have heard his talented playing. He has inspired several generations with his beautiful talent. He still enjoys performing, touring, and recording regularly.

Bibliography

Galway, James. An Autobiography: James Galway, New York: St. Martins Press, 1979. James Galway. 2004/2005. Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia. 7 Feb. 2005. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Galway> James Galway In Tune With God. 2002. The Salvation Army. 7 Feb. 2005. <http://www.salvationarmy.org.uk/en/Library/publications/warCry/2002/0 3-23/2002.03.23warcry_23-03-2002_p4.xml.htm> Sinclair, ed. Flute Stories. Malibu: Windplayer Productions. 2003. SuperFlute/James Galway. Ed. L. Krantz. 2004. Larry Krantz Productions. 7 Feb. 2005. <http://www.superflute.com>