James Galway to visit Christchurch

Press, 27 April 1983, Page 16

James Galway to visit Christchurch

James Galway, the world renowned flautist, will appear at the Christchurch Town Hall on May 9. Together with the American pianist, Phillip Moll, he will perform Francis Poulenc’s Sonata for Flute and Piano, Cesar Franck’s Sonata in A, Benjamin Godard’s Suite in Three Movements, Madrigal and Nocturne and Allegro Scherzando by Philippe Gaubert and Carmen Fantasy by Bizet, arranged by Borne. James Galway’s playing career started with a local drum and fife band in his

native Belfast. He was taught to play by his father and was soon appearing on the British Broadcasting Corporation’s Northern Ireland Service. A visiting professor from the Royal College of Music heard him play and he subsequently received scholarships for study in London at the Royal College under John Francis and at the Guildhall School of Music under Geoffrey Gilbert. Later he went on to the Conservatoire Nationale Superieure in Paris where he also studied privately with Jean Pierre Rampal.

He has served as principal flautist at both Sadlers Wells and Covent Garden and with the Royal Philharmonic, London Symphony and Berlin Philharmonic Orchestras. In 1975 he resigned from the Berlin Philharmonic and set off on a world tour doing solo concerts in 20 countries. He has never looked back. His busy schedule, which each year takes him all over the world, gives him little time to spend at home in Switzerland with his wife and three children.