James Galway is considered one of the world’s greatest flautist and entertainers. Born in Belfast, Ireland in 1939, Galway started playing music with a violin and penny whistle. People told him that the violin was far too easy, that he should try to play something harder. So he took his talent with the penny whistle and began to play the flute. By the age of 12 he had won three top prizes at a local music competition. From this success Galway moved on to continue his studies at the Royal College of Music and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, the later he moved his study to the Paris conservatory, and privately under virtuoso French flutists Jean Pierre Rampal and Marcel Moyse
Galway finally began his career at the Sadlers Wells Opera and the Royal Convent Garden. His performances here led to his position with the BBC Symphony Orchestra where he played piccolo, the London Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra where he was the lead flute. In 1969, Galway was given the position of first flute in the Berlin Philharmonic. Finally in 1975 he launched his career as a soloist and in one year he had played 120 concerts. Within another year Galway had recored his first four RCA LP’s
Since then, he has traveled the world over, giving recitals, performing with the world's leading orchestras, participating in chamber music engagements, popular music concerts and giving master classes. In October 1994 Galway premiered the George Nicholson: Concerto and the Jindrich Feld: Concerto for Flute, Piano and Orchestra with the Tonhalle Orchestra in Zurich and in 1993 he premiered the David Heath Concerto, with the Philharmonia at the Royal Festival Hall and the Lowell Liebermann Flute Concerto with the St Louis Symphony Orchestra.
Galway has appeared in some spectacular special events, notably a musical entertainment at Buckingham Palace in July 1991 before The Queen, members of the Royal Family and the Group of Seven Heads of State during the London Summit Meeting, the unique performance of "The Wall" in Berlin which was televised internationally, and at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in February 1996. James Galway has also performed at the White House several times, by special invitation of the President of the United States of America. In December 1998, he performed to a distinguished audience at the Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony.
Discography
"Song of the Seashore" and Other Melodies of Japan
Sometimes When We Touch
"The Pachelbel Canon" and Others
The Wayward Wind
Nocturne
In the Pink
James Galway and The Chieftains in Ireland
Bach
Corigliano
Mozart
Beethoven
Greatest Hits
Mozart
The Enchanted Forest
Meditations
James Galway Plays Khachaturian
The Classical James Galway
Serenade
Galway and Friends
James Galway, Kazuhito Yamashita, Joseph Swensen Play Giuliani
C.P.E. Bach: Concertos, H. 445, 438, 426
Quantz
Over the Sea to Skye (The Celtic Connection)
Mozart Flute Quartets
The Concerto Collection
In Dulci Jubilo
"Annie's Song" and Other Galway Favorites
Vivaldi: The Four Seasons
The Wind Beneath My Wings
J.S. Bach: Suite No. 2; Concerto, BVW 1044
Dances for Flute
The Magic Flute of James Galway
Man with the Golden Flute
Italian Flute Concertos
Italian Flute Concertos
James Galway's Christmas Carol
Galway at the Movies
Vivaldi: Six Concerti, Op. 10
The Lark in the Clear Air
Mercadante: Concertos for Flute and Orchestra
Italian Serenade
Flute Sonatas
Mozart: Concerto for Flute & Harp; 2 Flute Sonatas
Seasons
Pachelbel Canon and Other Baroque Favorites
James Galway Plays Danzi
James Galway Plays Bach
Wind of Change
James Galway
Winter's Crossing
GALWAY, JAMES
Tango Del Fuego
J.S. Bach
James Galway Plays Mozart
Christmas at the Pops
The French Recital
The Celtic Minstrel
Galway Plays Rodrigo
Legends
Maazel:
James Galway Plays the Music of Sir Malcolm Arnold
Music for My Friends
Galway at the Movies
James Galway Greatest Hits, Vol. 3