James Strauss (flutist)
Encyclopedia
Flautist
A flautist or flutist is a musician who plays an instrument in the flute family. See List of flautists.The choice of "flautist" versus "flutist" is the source of dispute among players of the instrument...
and musicologist
Musicology
Musicology is the scholarly study of music. The word is used in narrow, broad and intermediate senses. In the narrow sense, musicology is confined to the music history of Western culture...
. He is an internationally known performer whose virtuosity has drawn comparisons to Jascha Heifetz
Jascha Heifetz
Jascha Heifetz was a violinist, born in Vilnius, then Russian Empire, now Lithuania. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest violinists of all time.- Early life :...
and Vladimir Horowitz
Vladimir Horowitz
Vladimir Samoylovich Horowitz was a Russian-American classical virtuoso pianist and minor composer. His technique and use of tone color and the excitement of his playing were legendary. He is widely considered one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century.-Life and early...
.
Biography
Strauss began taking violin lessons from his father when he was 4 years old, but switched to the flute a few years later. He graduated from the Paris Conservatory with Pierre Yves Artaud, Maurice Pruvot, and Lazslo Hadadi. Concurrently he studied Flute with Jean-Pierre RampalJean-Pierre Rampal
Jean-Pierre Louis Rampal was a French flautist. He has been personally "credited with returning to the flute the popularity as a solo classical instrument it had not held since the 18th century."-Early years:...
. His career as a flute soloist started in 1991 with his performance with the Festival Orchestra of the 23rd Music Festival in Campos do Jordão
Campos do Jordão
Campos do Jordão is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. The population in 2003 was 47,903 and the area is 290.27 km². The elevation is 1,628 m....
, conducted by Júlio Medaglia
Julio Medaglia
Julio Medaglia is a composer, arranger, and conductor. Born in São Paulo in 1938, he studied theory and conducting with Hans-Joachim Koellreutter...
.
In 1999, he moved to Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, and began looking for Piotr Ilyitch Tchaikovsky's legendary "Flute Concerto", of which Rampal had seen a page in the 1960s in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. He eventually found three pieces of the original composition (one in St. Petersburg, one in Finland, one in Klin
Klin
Klin is a town and the administrative center of Klinsky District of Moscow Oblast, Russia, located northwest of Moscow. The M10 highway connecting Moscow to St. Petersburg and the Moscow-Saint Petersburg Railway run through the town. It was home to Klin air base during the Cold War. ...
) and reconstructed from them the Concertstück for Flute, TH 247, now catalogued as a posthumous work by Tchaikovsky.
Appearances
Strauss has performed with leading symphony and chamber orchestras in Japan, Israel, Central and Western Europe, and Scandinavia. He has also performed at venues including the ChâteletThéâtre du Châtelet
The Théâtre du Châtelet is a theatre and opera house, located in the place du Châtelet in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France.One of two theatres built on the site of a châtelet, a small castle or fortress, it was designed by Gabriel Davioud at the request of Baron Haussmann between 1860 and...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
's Suntory Hall
Suntory Hall
The Suntory Hall is a concert hall complex consisting of the "Main Hall" and the "Small Hall" located in the Ark Hills complex, near the U.S. Embassy and TV Asahi in the Akasaka district of northern Minato, a ward in Tokyo, Japan...
, NJPAC in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, Sala São Paulo
Sala São Paulo
The Julio Prestes Cultural Center, which is located in the Julio Prestes Train Station in the old north central section of the city of São Paulo, Brazil, was inaugurated on July 9, 1999. The building has been totally restored and renovated by the São Paulo State Government, as part of the downtown...
in São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
, and at festivals in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
and Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. In January 2007, he appeared at the Orchestra Hall in Miami
Miami, Ohio
Miami was the name of two towns in Erie County and Lucas County; the exact locations of both are unknown.While there is no longer any place in the U.S...
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
with the Oxford Chamber Orchestra.
Commissioned concertos
René Gerber, Solfa Carlile, Dimitri Cervo, Daisuke Soga, Kenny Choy, João Linhares, Philip CzaplowskiPhilip Czaplowski
Philip Czaplowski is an Australian composer.Czaplowski was born in London in 1958, and emigrated to Australia with his family in 1969. He lives in Melbourne, where he completed a PhD in music composition at Monash University under the supervision of Dr. Thomas Reiner...
, Antonio Ribeiro and Glenn Roger Davis have composed commissioned concertos for him, more are currently being composed.
Discography
Strauss has released two CDs with the Israeli Virtuosi, and four more in 2007 with repertoire ranging from Antonio VivaldiAntonio Vivaldi
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi , nicknamed because of his red hair, was an Italian Baroque composer, priest, and virtuoso violinist, born in Venice. Vivaldi is recognized as one of the greatest Baroque composers, and his influence during his lifetime was widespread over Europe...
to modern Brazilian music. He has also recorded the 24 Paganini Caprices, arranged for flute.
- James Strauss Plays Beethoven
James Strauss, flute; Regina Glasunova, piano; Miyo Umezu, Violin; Olli Varonen, cello
- Raiders of the lost Tchaikovsky (CD/DVD )
Heitor Villa-Lobos, Haydn, Paganini, Ponce, A. Tchaikovsky, P. Tchaikovsky, Dinicu, Rimsky Korsakov
January 31 recording of The Oxford Chamber Orchestra conducted by Ricardo Averbach.
- Made in Brazil
James Strauss, flute; Israeli Virtuosi; Ada Pelleg, conductor
- Tchaikovsky Flute Concerto
James Strauss, flute; Israeli Virtuosi; Ada Pelleg, conductor
- Portrait (CD sample 1999, Point Classics)
Vivaldi · Ribeiro · Gluck · Liebermann · Mercadante · Debussy · Randall
James Strauss, flute; Orquestra de Camara Theatro São Pedro, Capriccioso Chamber Orchestra, Antunes Câmera
Honors
- UFAM Concours International de flute, first prize, 1998
- UFAM Concours International de Chamber Music, first prize, 1999
- Concours International de flute de la Ville de Lempdes, first prize, 1997
- Concours International de flute Morangis, first mention, 1997