Join the Rocky Mountain Symphony and Alberta Native James Campbell for a Calgary premiere: Allan Gilliland’s “Dreaming of the Masters 1”
Gilliland: Dreaming of the Masters I
Weber: Concertino for Clarinet & Orchestra
Sibelius: Finlandia
Copland: Fanfare for the Common Man
Mozart: Don Giovanni Overture
Originally commissioned by James Campbell and the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra in 2003, Dreaming of the Masters I, a Jazz Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra, takes the listener on a thrilling journey through the styles of the classic Jazz Clarinet writers, including George Gershwin and Benny Goodman.
Tickets are available at https://primetix.ca/tc-events/james-campbell-1/
Artist Biography
James Campbell has followed his muse to five television specials, more than 40 recordings, over 30 works commissioned, a Juno Award (Stolen Gems), a Roy Thomson Hall Award, Canada’s Artist of the Year, the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal and Canada’s highest honor, the Order of Canada.
Called by the Toronto Star “Canada’s pre‐eminent clarinetist and wind soloist”, James Campbell has performed solo and chamber music concerts in 30 countries in many of the worlds great concert halls: London’s Wigmore and Queen Elizabeth Halls, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Tokyo’s Suntory Hall, Paris’s Theatre Champs‐ Elysees, Washington’s Kennedy Centre and Boston’s Symphony Hall.
He has been soloist with over 60 orchestras, including the Boston Pops, the London Symphony, the London Philharmonic, the Russian Philharmonic, and the Montreal Symphony and has performed Copland’s Clarinet Concerto four times with Aaron Copland conducting. He has appeared with over 30 string quartets, including the Amadeus (when he replaced an ailing Benny Goodman on a tour of California), Guarneri, Vermeer, New Zealand, Fine Arts, Allegri and St Lawrence Quartets.
Many of Campbell’s extensive discography many have won international acclaim. His recording of the Brahms Clarinet Quintet with the Allegri Quartet was voted “Top Choice” by BBC Radio 3 and the London Times and Stolen Gems, a recording of lighter classics, won a Juno Award (Canada’s Grammy). James has recorded with the London Symphony (the world premiere recording of Brahms Sonata Op. 120 No. 1 orchestrated by Luciano Berio and Weber Concerto No.1), the Philharmonia (Debussy Premier Rhapsody), the London Philharmonic (Saint‐Saens Tarantella), and the NACO (Mozart and Copland Concertos). Sony Classical has recently re‐released his recording of the Debussy Premier Rhapsody with Glenn Gould.
Since 1984, James Campbell has been Artistic Director of the Festival of the Sound, the annual summer Canadian chamber music festival, and has programmed over 1300 concerts for the festival. Under his direction the Festival has traveled to England, Japan, and the Netherlands and it has been the subject of documentaries by BBC Television, CBC Television and TV Ontario.
Campbell is the subject of numerous features and cover stories in Clarinet Magazine (USA), Clarinet and Sax (UK), Piper Magazine (Japan), Gramophone, and in the book Clarinet Virtuosi of Today, by British author and clarinet authority Pamela Weston.
James continues to explore and expand musically, his most recent collaboration being Spirit ’20, created at Festival of the Sound in 2010. The six member ensemble explores the music of the roaring 20’s in new and innovative ways. James Campbell has been Professor of Music at the prestigious Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University since 1988.
James plays Conn‐Selmer clarinets and uses Vandoren and Legere reeds.