Ravinia 2019, Issue 7, Week 14

LADY JEANNE GALWAY, flute Born in New York, flutist Lady Jeanne Galway is a graduate of the Mannes College of Music and has regularly been a soloist in the US with the orchestras of Chicago, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Seattle, and Denver, as well as the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, DC. She has also given many concerts internationally, including in London, New York, Milan, Rome, Vienna, Salzburg, Zurich, Dublin, Belfast, To- kyo, Beijing and Singapore, often appearing alongside her husband and fellow flutist Sir James. Galway is also an accomplished chamber musician, touring regularly with pianist Jona- than Feldman and cellist Darrett Atkins as the Zephyr trio. The trio’s album Zephyr—Winds of Romance combines works by Haydn, Martinů, and Weber, and the group also recently pre- miered a new work by Lowell Liebermann, com- missioned by Sir James. Lady Jeanne Galway has also made recordings for RCA Victor, BMG Classics, and Deutsche Grammophon that have received critical acclaim. With her husband, she has been awarded Irish America Magazine’s 2008 “Spirit of Ireland” award in recognition of their services to music. Galway devotes much of her time to working with younger generations, including the 10-day Galway Flute Festival in Switzerland, during which she offers advice on both performance and career management. Her concert engagements have included fundraising events for such organizations as UNICEF, SOS, FARA, and Marie Curie Cancer Care, and she is also a supporter of the Duchess of Kent’s Future Talent charity. Tonight marks Lady Jeanne Gal- way’s eighth appearance at Ravinia, where she first performed in 2000. his dislike for the flute, which he admitted to his father in a letter penned the day of Dejean’s de- parture: “I could, to be sure, scribble off things the whole day long, but a composition of this kind goes out into the world, and naturally I do not want to have cause to be ashamed of my name on the title page. Moreover, you know that I become quite powerless whenever I am obliged to write for an instrument which I cannot bear.” This aversion to the flute is not apparent in any of Mozart’s music written for the instrument. The Flute Quartet No. 1, K. 285, has three move- ments. The Allegro ’s first theme displays the lightness and delicacy typical of the composer’s writing for the flute, violin, viola, and cello. A second theme contains an ascending line in triplet motion. Mozart employed a simple three- part, or ternary, form in his Adagio . The flute’s lyrical expression is colored by the pizzicato string accompaniment. This piece leads direct- ly to the allegretto finale, given the French title Rondeau , which brings a seven-fold alternation between the opening theme and two contrasting ideas. –Program notes © 2019 Todd E. Sullivan SIR JAMES GALWAY, flute Born in Belfast, Ireland, Sir James Galway stud- ied music in London and Paris before begin- ning his career as an orchestral flutist. Prior to his principal-chair appointment in the Berlin Philharmonic under Herbert von Karajan, he was a member of the Sadler’s Wells and Royal Opera House at Covent Garden Orchestras, as well as the London Symphony and Royal Phil- harmonic Orchestras. Since 1975, Galway has focused his attention on a solo career that has included a long list of orchestras, conductors, and chamber-music collaborators. Not just an interpreter of the classical repertoire of Bach, Vivaldi, and Mozart, he also regularly performs contemporary works, including many commis- sioned by or for him from such composers as Mark Adamo, Elaine Agnew, David Amram, William Bolcom, John Corigliano, Philip Ham- mond, David Heath, Lowell Liebermann, and Lorin Maazel. At his 2014 Ravinia appearance, he gave the US premiere of a concerto by Riv- erdance ’s Bill Whelan, Linen and Lace , with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In 2013, Galway launched the “First Flute” interactive online se- ries, which comprises lessons for beginning flute students of all ages, ranging from instrument basics to a “practice room” with downloadable sheet music to concert footage. He also holds the 10-day Galway Flute Festival with his wife, Lady Jeanne, in Switzerland in addition to numerous other classes they give annually. Galway’s dis- cography includes more than 65 albums, includ- ing not only his regular concert repertoire but also the soundtracks to the Lord of the Rings film trilogy and O’Reilly Street with the Cuban timba group Tiempo Libre, with whom he performed at Ravinia in 2009. In addition to being named to the Order of the British Empire in 1979 and conferred knighthood in 2001, he has received the Grammy President’s Merit Award (2004); lifetime achievement honors from the Classic Brits (2005), Hollywood Bowl (2008), National Concert Hall of Dublin (2013), and Gramophone (2014); and, earlier this year, Ravinia’s Edward Gordon Award and Music Matters honors from the Ravinia Associates Board for his commit- ment to music education. Sir James Galway first performed at Ravinia in 1981 and is making his 13th season appearance at the festival. RAVINIA MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER 3 – SEPTEMBER 15, 2019 104