John-Edward Kelly (October 7, 1958 – February 12, 2015) was an American conductor and

saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

Early life

Born in

Fairfield, California Fairfield is a city in and the county seat of Solano County, California, United States, in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay sub-region of the San Francisco Bay Area. The city has a diversified economy, with government, manufac ...

, Kelly began music studies in

Belleville, Illinois Belleville is a city in St. Clair County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. It is a southeastern suburb of St. Louis. The population was 42,404 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the most populated city in the Me ...

studying clarinet, saxophone, flute and voice. Kelly focused on his passion for the saxophone as he began formal music studies at

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

's College of Music. He desired to resurrect the original tone and range of the

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

as intended by its inventor,

Adolphe Sax Antoine-Joseph "Adolphe" Sax (; 6 November 1814 – 7 February 1894) was a Belgian inventor and musician who invented the saxophone in the early 1840s, patenting it in 1846. He also invented the saxotromba, saxhorn and saxtuba, and redesigne ...

. His teachers included

Sigurd Raschèr Sigurd Manfred Raschèr (15 May 190725 February 2001) was an American saxophonist born in Germany. He became an important figure in the development of the 20th century repertoire for the classical saxophone. Early life Sigurd Raschèr was born ...

. After Florida State, He had a 30-year international career as a classical saxophonist.

Career

* In 1981 Kelly took Sigurd Raschèr's place as alto saxophonist in the

Raschèr Saxophone Quartet The Raschèr Saxophone Quartet is a professional ensemble of four saxophonists which performs European classical music, classical and Contemporary classical music, modern music. The quartet was founded in the United States in 1969 by prominent cla ...

. He performed regularly with the quartet for ten years. * In 1994 Kelly founded the Alloys Ensemble (saxophone, cello, piano & percussion). * From 1996 to 2003 he was a professor of contemporary chamber music at the

Robert Schumann Hochschule Robert Schumann Hochschule is a school for music studies at university level in Düsseldorf, Germany. It has a student body of some 850 from over forty countries. Forty-seven full-time and part-time faculty and two hundred associate professors pr ...

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

. * He was elected to the

Royal Swedish Academy of Music The Royal Swedish Academy of Music (), founded in 1771 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies in Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in ...

in 1999. * From 2000 to 2005 he was professor of saxophone and contemporary chamber music at the

Norwegian Academy of Music The Norwegian Academy of Music (Norwegian: ''Norges musikkhøgskole'', NMH) is a university-level music conservatory located in Oslo, Norway, in the neighbourhood of Majorstuen, Frogner. It is the largest music academy in Norway and offers the ...

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

. * In 2004 he founded th
Kelly Quartet
* In 2005 he co-founded (with violinist Elissa Cassini) th
Arcos Orchestra
an ensemble with a focus on unfamiliar orchestral repertoire. * In 2005, he performed with the

Naumburg Orchestral Concerts Naumburg () is a town in (and the administrative capital of) the district Burgenlandkreis, in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, Central Germany. It has a population of around 33,000. The Naumburg Cathedral became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2018. ...

, in the Naumburg Bandshell, Central Park, in the summer series. He lectured and served as a guest professor in such cities as London, The Hague, Hamburg, Düsseldorf, Helsinki, Rochester, Stuttgart, Lyon, and Oslo. He published articles on

aesthetics Aesthetics (also spelled esthetics) is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of beauty and taste (sociology), taste, which in a broad sense incorporates the philosophy of art.Slater, B. H.Aesthetics ''Internet Encyclopedia of Ph ...

contemporary music Contemporary music is whatever music is produced at the current time. Specifically, it could refer to: Genres or audiences * Adult contemporary music * British contemporary R&B * Christian adult contemporary * Christian contemporary hit radio * Con ...

and the saxophone, including a pamphlet titled "The Acoustics of the Saxophone from a Phenomenological Perspective". He also gave a series of lectures titled 'The Art of Listening'. Kelly gave the first performances of more than 200 works for saxophone, including 30 concertos for saxophone and orchestra. His performing repertoire consisted primarily of works written expressly for him. In 1995 he played the world premiere of Dimitri Terzakis's saxophone concerto, which was broadcast live to 27 nations. Other composers who have written works for Kelly include: Samuel Adler,

Kalevi Aho Kalevi Ensio Aho (born 9 March 1949) is a Finnish composer. Early years Aho began his interest in music at the age of ten, when he discovered a mandolin in his home and began to teach himself how to play it. He soon was taken under the tutela ...

Osvaldas Balakauskas Osvaldas Jonas Balakauskas (born December 19, 1937, in Miliūnai) is a Lithuanian composer of classical music and diplomat. Career Balakauskas graduated from Vilnius Pedagogical University in 1961. After his mandatory service in the Soviet A ...

Jürg Baur Jürg Baur (11 November 1918 – 31 January 2010) was a German composer whose works include ''Incontri and Mutazioni.'' Baur studied at the Cologne University of Music and taught there in his later years. Baur was also awarded the Federal Cross ...

Erik Bergman Erik Valdemar Bergman (24 November 1911 – 24 April 2006) was a composer of european classical music, classical music from Finland. Bergman's style ranged widely, from Romanticism in his early works (many of which he later prohibited from bein ...

, David Blake, John Boda, Thomas Böttger, Herbert Callhoff,

Michael Denhoff Michael Denhoff (born 25 April 1955 in Ahaus) is a German composer and cellist. Life Denhoff has lived and worked in Bonn since 1982. He studied at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln, where his teachers included Günter Bialas and Hans Wer ...

Violeta Dinescu Violeta Dinescu (born 13 July 1953) is a Romanian composer, pianist, and academic teacher, living in Germany since 1982. She has been professor of applied composition at the University of Oldenburg from 1986. Romania Born in Bucharest on 13 Ju ...

, Brian Elias, Anders Eliasson, Werner Wolf Glaser,

Sampo Haapamäki Sampo Haapamäki (born 3 February 1979) is a Finnish composer. He has won several international composition competitions. Education Haapamäki studied at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki with Tapio Nevanlinna and Veli-Matti Puumala. He has also s ...

, Ingvar Karkoff,

Maurice Karkoff Maurice may refer to: * Maurice (name), a given name and surname, including a list of people with the name Places * or Mauritius Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the ...

Tristan Keuris Tristan Keuris (3 October 1946 in Amersfoort – 15 December 1996 in Amsterdam) was a Dutch composer. Life and career Keuris initially studied with Jan van Vlijmen in Amersfoort. At the age of 15 he started his studies with Ton de Leeuw at the Utr ...

, Hans Kox, Nicola LeFanu, Otmar Mácha, Tera de Marez-Oyens, Miklós Maros, Gérard Masson, Roland Leistner-Mayer,

Krzysztof Meyer Krzysztof Meyer (born 11 August 1943) is a Polish composer, pianist, and music scholar, formerly dean of the Department of Music Theory (1972–1975) at the State College of Music (now Academy of Music in Kraków), and president of the Polish C ...

Gráinne Mulvey Gráinne Mulvey (born 10 March 1966) is an Irish composer. Biography Mulvey was born in Dún Laoghaire, County Dublin, Ireland, and studied with Eric Sweeney (composer), Eric Sweeney at Waterford Regional Technical College, Hormoz Farhat at Tr ...

, Pehr-Henrik Nordgren, Enrique Raxach, Uros Rojko, Jan Sandström,

Sven-David Sandström Sven-David Sandström (30 October 1942 – 10 June 2019) was a Swedish classical composer of operas, oratorios, ballets, and choral works, as well as orchestral works. Life and career Sandström was born in Motala and studied art history and mus ...

Leif Segerstam Leif Selim Segerstam ( , 2 March 1944 – 9 October 2024) was a Finnish conductor, composer, violinist, violist, and pianist, especially known for writing over 300 symphonies, along with other works. From 1963 onward Segerstam conducted a vari ...

Manfred Stahnke Manfred Stahnke (born 30 October 1951) is a German composer and musicologist from Hamburg. He writes chamber music, orchestral music and stage music. His music makes extensive use of microtonality. He plays piano and viola. Life Manfred Stahnke wa ...

, Dimitri Terzakis, Stefan Thomas, Friedrich Voss, and

Iannis Xenakis Giannis Klearchou Xenakis (also spelled for professional purposes as Yannis or Iannis Xenakis; , ; 29 May 1922 – 4 February 2001) was a Romanian-born Greek-French avant-garde composer, music theorist, architect, performance director and enginee ...

Personal life

Kelly met his wife Kristin, a physician, at a concert in Germany. The couple married in 2003. They had 4 children, 3 sons and a daughter. He was a licensed

airplane An airplane (American English), or aeroplane (Commonwealth English), informally plane, is a fixed-wing aircraft that is propelled forward by thrust from a jet engine, Propeller (aircraft), propeller, or rocket engine. Airplanes come in a vari ...

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

and

flight instructor A flight instructor is a person who teaches others to operate aircraft. Specific privileges granted to holders of a flight instructor qualification vary from country to country, but very generally, a flight instructor serves to enhance or evaluate ...

Selected discography

* John-Edward Kelly & Bob Versteegh (3 volumes) (1987, 1991, 1994) - Col legno Musikproduktionen AU031805, AU031817, and WWE1CD31885 * Works for Saxophone & Orchestra by Ibert,

Larsson Larsson () is a Swedish language, Swedish patronymic surname meaning "son of Lars". There are various spellings. Notable people with the surname include: Academics *Hans Larsson (1862–1944) was a Swedish Professor of Philosophy at Lund Universit ...

, &

Martin Martin may refer to: Places Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Europe * Martin, Croatia, a village * Martin, Slovakia, a city * Martín del Río, Aragón, Spain * M ...

, BMG (with the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra) (1991) - Arte Nova 74321277 * Miklós Maros Saxophone Concerto (with the

Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra The Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra (''Symfonický orchestr Českého rozhlasu'', Czech acronym SOČR, English acronym PRSO) is a Czech broadcast orchestra based in Prague, the Czech Republic. The SOČR performs concerts at the Dvořák Hall of ...

) (1990) - Phono Suecia PS-CD-23 *

Pehr Henrik Nordgren Pehr Henrik Nordgren (19 January 1944 – 25 August 2008) was a Finnish composer. Life Pehr Henrik Nordgren was born in Saltvik, Åland, on 19 January 1944. received composition lessons starting from 1958 in Helsinki and studied musicology at t ...

Saxophone Concerto (with the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra) (1995) - Finlandia 3984233922 *

Allan Pettersson Gustaf Allan Pettersson (19 September 1911 – 20 June 1980) was a Swedish composer and violist. He is considered one of the 20th century's most important Swedish composers and was described as one of the last great symphonists, ...

Symphony No. 16 (with the Sinfonie-Orchester des Saarländischen Rundfunks) (1995) - CPO 9992842 * Jan Sandström - My Assam Dragon (with the

Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra The Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra () is a Swedish radio orchestra based in Stockholm, affiliated with Sveriges Radio (Sweden's Radio). Its principal performing venue is the Berwaldhallen (Berwald Hall). The orchestra broadcasts concerts on th ...

(1995) - Phono Suecia PSCD87 *John-Edward Kelly Alone (1999) - Emergo Classics EC39322 * Hans Kox - Concertino (with the Norwegian Winds) (1991) - Attaca-Babel 92621 * Hans Kox - Through a Glass, Darkly (1992) - Attaca-Babel 9374 *

Viktor Ullmann Viktor Ullmann (1 January 1898 – 18 October 1944) was a Silesia-born Austrian composer, conductor and pianist. Biography Viktor Ullmann was born on 1 January 1898 in Cieszyn (Teschen), which belonged then to Austrian Silesia in the Austro- ...

- Slawische Rhapsodie (with the

Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin The Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin (DSO) is a German broadcast orchestra based in Berlin. The orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families ...

) (1998) - Orfeo C419981A *

- Laudi (with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra) (1994) - Emergo Classics EC39332 * Dimitri Terzakis - Konflikte (1997) - ProViva 7198585 (ISVP185CD) *

- Three Sonnets (2001) * Anders Eliasson - Symphony No. 3 (2001) * Anders Eliasson - Desert Point / Ostacoli / Sinfonia Per Achi (with Arcos Orchestra, conductor: John-Edward Kelly) (2008) - NEOS SACD 10813 *

- Phantasme (2001) * Hans Kox - Face-to-Face (2001) * The Alloys Ensemble/ (2001)

References

External links

*
Official page of the Arcos Orchestra

Christoph Schlüren, "'Unwilling to Compromise' – Zum Tod von John-Edward Kelly". NMZ Online, 20 February 2015 (German-language tribute)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, John-Edward 1958 births 2015 deaths 20th-century German musicians American classical saxophonists American male saxophonists German classical musicians 20th-century American saxophonists 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century American classical musicians