Dirigent
Biography:
John Edward Kelly (www.johnedwardkelly.com) was born in San Francisco. After training as a clarinetist and conductor, he has been performing as a saxophone soloist all over the world for over 30 years. This includes appearances at countless well-known music festivals as well as countless international radio and television productions and 30 CD productions to date. A passionate advocate of modern music, Kelly has premiered more than 200 new compositions by many of the most important composers of our time.
Highlights of recent seasons have included performances with the Stockholm Philharmonic, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, Munich Chamber Orchestra, Swedish Radio Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra Wales, Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and Radio Kamerorkest in Amsterdam, the Berlin Staatskapelle, the Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Polish Chamber Orchestra, the Resident Orchestra, the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra and the German Symphony Orchestra Berlin as well as a live broadcast in 27 nations with the Saarland Radio Symphony Orchestra.
In recent years he has increasingly returned to his musical origins as a conductor. Kelly's most important training as a conductor took place privately with Prof. John Boda, who was George Szell's assistant at the Cleveland Orchestra for many years. Along with the great violinist Adolf Busch, George Szell represents the strongest influence on Kelly's music-making. Since 2005, John-Edward Kelly has been chief conductor of the New York Arcos Chamber Orchestra (www.arcos-orchestra.com).
In addition, John-Edward Kelly gave lectures and master classes at many music colleges and universities (London, Helsinki, Oslo, The Hague, Stockholm, Berlin, Dresden, Leipzig, York, Detmold, Rochester, Stuttgart, Lisbon, Coimbra, Rome, Lyon).
He has published essays on contemporary music and aesthetic issues, and conducted acoustic courses for architects and listening courses for young people. Philosophy and English literature were his main interests during his university days and he has been an active commercial aviator and flight instructor for many years.
Kelly lived in Germany from 1981 to 2007, returning to the United States in 2007. In the meantime he was professor for contemporary chamber music at the Robert Schumann University in Düsseldorf and at the Norwegian State Academy of Music in Oslo. In 1999 he was elected to the Royal Swedish Academy of Music - one of the most traditional honors for musicians.
Albums:
John Edward Kelly plays Anders Eliasson:
Desert Point ∙ Ostácoli ∙ Sinfonia per archi:
