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Michael Shapiro: Welcome to Interplay. This is Michael Shapiro, your host. Today, I have a dear friend who I'm speaking to from Chappaqua, New York to Lucerne, Switzerland. Sir James Galway. Hi there, Sir James. How are you?
Sir James Galway: Hi Michael. Very good, thank you.
Michael Shapiro: You look splendid.
Sir James Galway: Yeah, well, I don't feel too bad considering this lockdown.
Michael Shapiro: I know, I know.
Sir James Galway: Produces a certain amount of... lethargy.
Michael Shapiro: It does, but one must fight the lethargy and, uh, I know that when this first started...
Sir James Galway: I'm doing it. I'm doing it. (Laughs)
Michael Shapiro: (Laughs) Do you do the same practicing you've always done?
Sir James Galway: Yes, I do.
Michael Shapiro: So let me ask you a question, because when... (laughs) that's my job. When... when I speak to athletes, because I know a lot of basketball players here, I, you know, it's very easy to understand their practicing. And a great instrumentalist is almost like an athlete. You have to practice to keep perfect, as it were. And nothing's perfect, but...
Sir James Galway: Well, you know the old saying, Michael: "If you don't use it, you lose it."
Michael Shapiro: Yeah.
Sir James Galway: And this is absolutely true.
Michael Shapiro: Do you think there's a change in embouchure or support as one gets older?
Sir James Galway: I think what happens is it's a, uh, a change in the muscle tone. You're not so strong as you were before. And, uh, because, because many of my colleagues don't practice, they lose the strength in the, in the abdomen. They lose the strength to take a really good breath, to sustain a phrase to the end. There's all these sort of little things that, that happen when you get old, if you're not careful enough to look after them. And I tell you, I'm speaking from personal experience. I, I mean, there's certain things I can't do now that I could just toss off twenty years ago.
Michael Shapiro: What would those be?
Sir James Galway: Well, uh, let, let me say, the first thing that gives you difficulty is the breathing. You know, breathing is a very big thing. Uh, let me put it to you like this: if you take a good breath, you really want it to last you to the end of the phrase. And you want to be able to hold the last note with some good support, and not gasping.
Michael Shapiro: You know, flute players are kind of like a singer, aren't you?
Sir James Galway: My first teacher was a singer. She learned the flute with Geoffrey Gilbert, who was the solo flutist of the Royal Philharmonic, whose conductor was Sir Thomas Beecham.
Michael Shapiro: That's right.
Sir James Galway: And, uh, she was a very good singer. I mean, she was a professional singer. She sang all, she was a mezzo, and she sang all these Bach arias and things, uh, in the Queen's Hall with Sir Henry Wood conducting. He's the guy who made the new, uh, the Proms.
Michael Shapiro: I know.
Sir James Galway: Henry Wood Proms. So when, uh, when the Luftwaffe got rid of his first concert hall, he moved to the second one.
Michael Shapiro: That's right.
Sir James Galway: Which was the Albert Hall.
Michael Shapiro: The Albert Hall.
Sir James Galway: Yeah.
Michael Shapiro: But let's talk about breath, because I find it fascinating. When I conduct, I often talk to the orchestra about breathing, because my background is accompanying singers, opera, so forth. And the phrasing—because I know the breath in your, in your music-making is ravishing. Every time I listen to anything that you do, I just hear that wonderful breath. So talk to me about breathing and shaping of phrases in Baroque music versus, let's say, Romantic music or contemporary music. Do you find it any different? Or the same ideas?
Sir James Galway: The same ideas prevail. Take a good breath, stop, play. Take a good breath, hold it, sing.
Michael Shapiro: Sing.
Sir James Galway: You don't want to be taking a breath and singing right on the exhalation.
Michael Shapiro: Cantabile, cantando. I love those words.
Sir James Galway: Uh-huh.
Michael Shapiro: Now, in shaping phrasing—this guy, for example, whose concerto you have played amazingly well...
Sir James Galway: Yeah.
Michael Shapiro: ...it's beautiful. You know, there are some people that talk about the so-called movement of, um, you know, classical or Renaissance playing versus contemporary. I don't know how they would know these things. But when you're playing Mozart's music, the concerto, the phrasing that a Bruno Walter would have done, I think is different to a certain extent from the phrasing that a Sir James Galway would do. Do you see where I'm going? The sentimentality, let's say. How did you... how do you deal with that? What are your thoughts? Or your innate qualities?
Sir James Galway: Well, you know, you put me on the spot there. I don't really have any thoughts about this sort of stuff. You know, I don't, uh, uh, I don't get into Baroque, Baroque. I just play it like I think it should go. And it's, it's pretty good. I mean, if you listen to my C.P.E. Bach concertos, uh, I think they're a sort of landmark in flute playing.
Michael Shapiro: Oh, they are.
Sir James Galway: The breathing, especially in the, in the third movement of the first concerto, and the last movement of the third concerto, is, I think, remarkable.
Michael Shapiro: And you know what's remarkable...
Sir James Galway: If I may say so.
Michael Shapiro: You, you, you can say it, quite. And I would tell you that your recordings of the Corigliano Pied Piper Fantasy and the Liebermann concertos—not only for flute but also for piccolo...
Sir James Galway: Yeah.
Michael Shapiro: ...same idea. You approach the phrase using your innate sensitivity. But, I will say one thing, and you probably will agree: your experience is so broad. I think much more broad than many people. You started out as an instrumen—well, a solo player, obviously, and chamber music when you were coming up, but then very early on,
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London Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic, then the Chieftains and crossover, and new concerti. I mean, just so many different kinds of pieces. Film music! By the way, my son asked me whether you know any hobbits, but I, I figured you won't as you were in a recording studio when you... (laughs)
Sir James Galway: (Laughs)
Michael Shapiro: ...when you did Lord of the Rings. (Laughs) But I'll tell you, Sir James, when I list—when I saw the first film, when I saw The Fellowship of the Ring, and I heard that sound, I did not know it was you initially—that you had recorded the famous theme that, uh, Howard Shore, uh, wrote. That beautiful melody. But the minute I—I will tell you, the minute I heard that vibrato, that sound, I said, "That's James Galway." I knew it.
Sir James Galway: (Laughs)
Michael Shapiro: I just knew it. Now, when did you know that you had your own sound? Because you have your own sound. As much as Coleman Hawkins and, uh, you know, Charlie Parker had their own sounds.
Sir James Galway: Charlie Parker.
Michael Shapiro: As much as they had their own sounds, you have your own sound. You don't sound like anybody else. How did you know you had that? And why? Why do you have that?
Sir James Galway: Well, I didn't know I had it. I, I don't know why I have it, but I think a lot of it has to do with my first teacher, Muriel. I mean, she had in her mind the flute playing of Geoffrey Gilbert. And Geoffrey played in the French style, which was not popular in England at the time. But it says something for Sir Thomas Beecham when he saw this guy playing on a silver flute, and with vibrato and absolutely shining, he hired him as the solo flutist of his new, new Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. And I think Muriel had this sound in her mind, and she brought it to my attention. And I, I thought, "Wow, this is the way I, this is the way I want to play." And, and then, one, one day, uh, her husband, Dougie—Douglas. Dougie, John used to call him Dougie. He, uh, (laughs) he said to me, "Jimmy, I want to take you to a concert tonight." I said, "Okay." And it was the Wigmore Ensemble, which had Geoffrey Gilbert playing the flute, Maria Korchinska playing the harp, and Frederick Riddle playing the viola. These were all famous musicians in London.
Michael Shapiro: Yeah.
Sir James Galway: And, uh, I got along there with, uh, with my suit, uh, which I'd been wearing for the last three years, and had the menus of school dinners all over it. (Laughs) And I sat down and started listening to this concert. I thought, "This is amazing, how this guy plays the flute. Nobody plays the flute like this." And it was true at the time—nobody did play the flute like that. In England, anyway. Of course, in France, it was another, another matter. But, uh, I got to meet Geoffrey afterwards, and it was so interesting. He showed me his flute, which was an old Louis Lot flute, which he, old French flute, which he liked. And, uh, then I got to eventually study with him when I went to London. I studied for three years with John Francis, who was a very good teacher, and, uh, was very kind to me. I lived in his house as well.
Michael Shapiro: So is the sound created by an embouchure or breath, or both?
Sir James Galway: Three things.
Michael Shapiro: They are?
Sir James Galway: Embouchure, breath, and the inside of the mouth. You know when you sing a scale, a simple scale, any scale like: Do-Re-Mi-Fa-Sol-La-Si-Do. The embouchure changes as you go up inside your mouth, and changes as you come right down.
Michael Shapiro: Bravo. Right? I got Sir James Galway to sing on Interplay. This is fantastic. (Laughs)
Sir James Galway: Wait till you hear me when I get warmed up. (Laughs)
Michael Shapiro: I want to talk about your childhood...
Sir James Galway: But you see what I'm talking about, Michael. You can relate to this in the voice, because it is not possible, absolutely not possible, to sing a low note with the same mouth position as a high note. And that means that every note in between has a special place, and that you can only sing these notes with special... uh, what would I say, vowels?
Michael Shapiro: No, though, the, the solfège, too. Talk to me about the famous section for solo flute in the fourth movement of Brahms' First. Mi... Re-Do-Sol... Talk to me about where your mouth is when you hit that high E, which just shines all over the orchestra, which you've played.
Sir James Galway: That high E.
Michael Shapiro: Where, what are you doing? What are you doing in your mouth when you hit that note?
Sir James Galway: Well, you know, I can't tell you, because it's so long since I played it, I can't remember. (Laughs) But I, I just remember that it, it would certainly not be the embouchure for a low note. It would be the embouchure especially for E.
Michael Shapiro: And what's that? It's a pianist that's asking.
Sir James Galway: Everything is a little bit high up, and the lips are a little bit more forward, like, like a kiss.
Michael Shapiro: Mmm.
Sir James Galway: And whereas, when you come down to the lower octave, the mouth is then open inside, and the lips are more extended, and the, the embouchure hole is a little bit broader.
Michael Shapiro: That's wonderful.
Sir James Galway: This is going to cost you extra here, Michael, because (laughs) I'm not a cheap flute teacher.
Michael Shapiro: I know, I know, I know! We're going to get to the—I want to talk about the Gal—the Galway Flute Academy, but that's at the end, because I, I just love getting this stuff out of you. (Inhales deeply) Talk to me about growing up in Ireland. As you know, last time we saw each other, I was—we had a wonderful dinner and I, I remember telling you and Lady Jeanne that Marge and I were going to the—to Ireland after I conducted the BBC in Cardiff.
Sir James Galway: Right.
Michael Shapiro: And we—and, and Lady Jeanne says that the time you took her to see the Cliffs of Moher, she just wept. And I will tell you, traveling—I've been all over
the world, but Ireland has to be one of the highlights of my life. It was just an amazing experience going from down from Dublin to Kilkenny, to Kinsale, going around to Doolin and coming back. Just the most amazing feeling. Do you think our speech, and the way we have learned language, has affected our musicianship? And I talk to you, I talk to you, Mr. Galway, from up north.
Sir James Galway: No. (Laughs) You know, there's a lot of people say that, "Oh, you know, the French are very good at, uh, tonguing, articulation, you know, this digga-digga-digga-digga." And, uh, I think, well, what about—there's one or two good German flute players who play very well, and a few Scandinavians who do that, too, and a lot of Americans, and then none of them have that French accent.
Michael Shapiro: What about the Italians? Our, our friend, our friend Andrea, I mean, my god.
Sir James Galway: Yeah, sure. And now, listen, uh, about the tonguing, um, the reason the French are so good at it is the standard French tutor for the flute is written by Taffanel and Gaubert.
Michael Shapiro: Mmm.
Sir James Galway: And then the 17 Daily Exercises contained in Part 2—uh, oh no, not Part 2, Part 1—there are 22 pages on articulation. Whereas, we have, uh, a book by such and such a teacher, and there's one page on articulation. (Laughs) And that's not going to do it, is it?
Michael Shapiro: No. You've probably seen the tapes of Heifetz teaching his students, uh, scales and arpeggios and so forth. You know. But this hurts very...
Sir James Galway: You know, I like the story about Heifetz, this story really kills me.
Michael Shapiro: Yeah?
Sir James Galway: When he, when he demonstrated a scale for the student, he would start on, uh, F major, and by the time he got to the top of the scale, it was an E major. (Laughs) But you didn't notice where it changed. And then he would come down again, and it would—he started on the E and come down, and it would be on F.
Michael Shapiro: You know, some interviewers would talk to you about your career and all the things you do, and blah blah blah, and, you know, this and that, and I have to say, talking to you about these situations—about how to produce the sound, and the embouchure, and the mouth—to me, is just fascinating. If people want to read about Sir James Galway, they can go to Wikipedia or your website and talk about the amazing career you've had. I will talk to you, though, next about the different kinds of music you've played, because you've done everything! And you still continue to do everything. I'm just amazed about the fact that you can be one year in the von Karajan Berlin Phil—Berlin Philharmonic, and then the next year, you're working with the Chieftains. I find that to be the most extraordinary progress of anyone, any instrumentalist, in the 20th and 21st centuries.
Sir James Galway: Well, you know why I could, you know why I did it? Because I could do it.
Michael Shapiro: Right.
Sir James Galway: See, when I was a kid, we didn't learn Beethoven symphonies. We learned Molly on the Shore, and Planxty's third, jig and reel, and whatever, and all these sort of things. And we learned also, uh, Give Me a Home Where the Buffaloes Roam. And all this stuff we learned as kids because that's what was happening on the radio.
Michael Shapiro: So true.
Sir James Galway: See, so we, we just latched onto it. And then when we went—when we, I got a scholarship to the Royal College of Music to study with John, and, uh, that was interesting because all that stuff immediately stopped. And we only played classical music like Vaughan Williams' Third Symphony and stuff like that. Yes.
Michael Shapiro: But while you were in London, you were able to hear just the most amazing concerts, because wasn't Sir John Barbirolli very much still working, and Malcolm Sargent, and so many others? I mean, Beecham had retired—was gone, but I mean, I find the Barbirolli years with the Hallé just fascinating, what was going on there.
Sir James Galway: Yes, yeah, he was a very good conductor. Uh, but I, I have to say, you know, when I was a kid, there were such great conductors as guests coming in, like Rudolf Kempe conducted Lohengrin at, uh, the Royal Opera House and absolutely was...
Michael Shapiro: I saw him do Beethoven Nine in Zurich, by the way, when I was a coach at the Zurich Opera House. He was an extraordinarily great conductor. But you saw, you saw Lohengrin, which was one of his major things. What, what other conductors did you see? This was in—this was in, uh, when you were up north in, in Ireland when you saw people?
Sir James Galway: No, no, no. This is when I went to London.
Michael Shapiro: When you went to London. So that—that was at Covent Garden, you saw him do Lohengrin, most likely, yes.
Sir James Galway: Yes.
Michael Shapiro: Any other memories of that years? Because I know later on in the LSO, you played under Lenny for the Shostakovich, I think, yeah?
Sir James Galway: Oh, that, well, that was amazing. I mean, playing with Lenny was just an, an eye-opener about what conducting was all about. I mean, he really brought the music to life, especially Shostakovich. Uh, mainly because of his Jewish heritage.
Michael Shapiro: No question. Russian, Russian heritage, you know?
Sir James Galway: Yes. And I think that's what really was driving him in this symphony.
Michael Shapiro: But you've come upon a good thing here, Sir James. You're talking about Lenny's Jewish Russian heritage and Koussevitzky, and knowing how to phrase Shostakovich. So I'm going to put it right back on you. (Laughs) So my question to you... (laughs) my question to you is, is your background coming from Northern Ireland, does that influ—does that... I know my background certainly makes a major difference in the way I write. So in the way you play, has it made any change? Or does it—I don't want to use the word "infect," but "inflect," we should say, what you do? Your background.
Sir James Galway: Well, I
mean, it's—if you're Irish, it's absolutely essential when you play to retain your Irishness.
Michael Shapiro: What's that? What's Irishness?
Sir James Galway: Don't ask me, I don't know. But you get it, you get it from your mom. (Laughs)
Michael Shapiro: You get it from your mom. But what a great country. Um, what are your hopes for Ireland?
Sir James Galway: Oh, I hope it would one day be, uh, united. And that everybody would stop beating up on each other.
Michael Shapiro: You feel that when you're there. I, I feel—I feel the same way. I mean, when I was there, walking those fields and those valleys and those pastures, and smelling those sheep and the cows all over the place... (inhales deeply) you just love it. And the people are...
Sir James Galway: You wouldn't believe it. We've, we've rented a new apartment here in, in Switzerland, and I think of going back to Ireland because right outside the, the side of the house, there's a field with 15 cows in it. (Laughs)
Michael Shapiro: I'm ready, I'll come. Can I rent the apartment? (Laughs) I'll come. I need a place to work.
Sir James Galway: I think—I think, you know, when you're, when you're... when you grow up in Ireland as a kid, you automatically learn music. You learn it, you learn singing at school, and if you, if you join a flute band, you learn a flute, you practice the flute. And I joined a flute band, and people think flute bands are rather outrageous or stupid. But, you know, I learned things like, uh, the Thieving Magpie overture, and I can still play from memory the first violin part of the overture to Oberon.
Michael Shapiro: Fantastic.
Sir James Galway: And when I went to the Royal College of Music, I was the only one sitting in the orchestra with any sort of, uh, orchestral experience, even though it was in a flute band. (Laughs) And you know the, the, the, the, the... the, the... oh, what did, the... the one that starts with the drum, I just mentioned it a minute ago.
Michael Shapiro: Oh, Magpie?
Sir James Galway: Yep. It, it goes perfect because it opens up with a drum solo.
Michael Shapiro: Right. It gets your attention.
Sir James Galway: Yeah. And I mean, the, the, the, the side drum plays all the way through the first part of the overture.
Michael Shapiro: Mmm.
Sir James Galway: So when we learn these things, we, it really took root. And it was not only pieces like that we learned. Uh, I first played my first Unfinished Symphony with 36 flutes, four drums, bass drum, side drum, and cymbal—and cymbals. (Laughs) You could hear that racket. And this was a funny thing. I thought the Jupiter Symphony was great. We played it really good. And then I went to, uh, I went to London, and I went round to, to hear Thomas Beecham conducting the BBC Orchestra in the, the Jupiter Symphony. And guess what? He swore at them all the way through! (Laughs) Live performance.
Michael Shapiro: He swore at them? What was he—what was he swearing about?
Sir James Galway: Yeah.
Michael Shapiro: Well, what was...
Sir James Galway: The intonation and stuff.
Michael Shapiro: As he was conducting?
Sir James Galway: And I was thinking, "Oh man, this is terrible intonation from a professional orchestra." But I mean, it was the standard at the time. They probably had like no rehearsal. And you know what that's like. Nothing's changed.
Michael Shapiro: So wait a minute. Wait, wait. This is during the performance? He's swearing at them while they're doing the Jupiter Symphony?
Sir James Galway: Yeah, I mean, not through the whole performance. Just now and again, he would turn and ask them if they were serious. I don't know what—I don't know what he was saying, though. But he was a real character. Oh, yeah. Towards the end of his life, he, he, he developed this trait.
Michael Shapiro: Oh, I didn't—I, so you did see Beecham. Lucky you. I, I would have loved that. No one could turn a phrase like he could turn a phrase. It was just unbelievable, especially in like Gounod or Saint-Saëns, something like that. Just amazing. Let's talk about turning...
Sir James Galway: I like his, I like his La Bohème.
Michael Shapiro: It's a genius with de los Ángeles and Björling. Genius. I spoke to Robert Merrill about that, actually, when he came to one of my concerts early on. He—because he sang Marcello in that, uh, in that recording. And he just remembered it. Beecham, by the way, had conducted La Bohème then 60 times, 6-0.
Sir James Galway: Wow.
Michael Shapiro: So let's talk about repetition. Do you think you're better having done things years ago now? Does repetition help?
Sir James Galway: I think it does, of course. Uh, especially when you're practicing.
Michael Shapiro: How?
Sir James Galway: Uh, I mean, when I'm practicing something and I can't get it on the Monday, uh, there's hope for it on Tuesday. (Laughs) If it still doesn't work by Wednesday, you, you really begin to get it. But then, you might be talking about, uh, repetition of pieces.
Michael Shapiro: Mmm.
Sir James Galway: Like symphonies.
Michael Shapiro: Yeah. Well, when you were in—doing orchestral playing.
Sir James Galway: Yeah, well, I think, for example, Karajan, when he—I think he conducted the Beethoven symphonies maybe four times.
Michael Shapiro: The recordings.
Sir James Galway: Recorded.
Michael Shapiro: Yeah, there are four recordings.
Sir James Galway: At least three, anyway.
Michael Shapiro: Yes, sir.
Sir James Galway: And, uh, everything got better. The technical, the technical aspect of it got better, and he had been driving his Rolls-Royce Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra for several years before that, and they, they really began to knit together in a way that other orchestras didn't.
Michael Shapiro: Well, I'm hearing that recently with Sir Mark Elder's work with the Hallé, because he's been there 20 years. It makes a big difference. The Hallé now is just fantastic, the way they just combine, and he's able to work with them. It's just the most incredible thing. Um, I'm curious getting
back to your morning regimen, and then we'll talk about the, the Institute.
Sir James Galway: I know I listened to them recently, uh, doing an, uh, a Nielsen flute concerto, and I thought it was remarkable.
Michael Shapiro: Remarkable. How do you wake up in the morning? I know Pablo Casals used to play the prelude and fugues, you know, from The Well-Tempered Clavier every morning on piano. What's your regimen in the morning? How do you start up the day?
Sir James Galway: Oh, you, you're going to like this, Michael. I get up, have breakfast, and then go back to bed. (Laughs)
Michael Shapiro: Okay! And then you get up again, and now you're talking...
Sir James Galway: Then I get up and have lunch.
Michael Shapiro: ...and have a lunch. All right.
Sir James Galway: But it's only, it's only because I'm rather elderly, uh, that I do all this sleeping business.
Michael Shapiro: Well... you know, there's a, there's a line from The Wizard of Oz: "I get up at 10 and start to work—I get up at 12 and start to work at 1, have an hour for lunch and then at 2:00 we're done." (Laughs) It's like jolly old fun. So... so... again, when you're not sleeping... (laughs)
Sir James Galway: Yeah.
Michael Shapiro: ...or eating... (laughs)
Sir James Galway: Yeah. (Laughs)
Michael Shapiro: ...both of which we both enjoy, what's your regimen as far as practicing? How do you start up?
Sir James Galway: I play scales and arpeggios. That's all. And now, uh, sometimes I, I practice a, a piece if I need to demonstrate it, uh, to the students online. For example, uh, if I want to demonstrate, uh, something like breathing, I take the second movement of the suite by Widor for the flute, which is really very difficult for the breathing. And what I try to convey to the student is, when you get to the end of this place in the music, the note should be full and have a full support. It should not—you shouldn't be empty.
Michael Shapiro: Right.
Sir James Galway: Otherwise, you're not going to have the, the rich tone that you really are searching for if you don't take... And, of course, you know, in the editions that I make, I, I mark breathings in all over the place, because there's a lot of students and people taking breaths, they say, "Oh, I don't need to take that breath." And I think, this is the bad news. You really do need to take that breath (laughs) because it's not—it's not really supported. It's only blown.
Michael Shapiro: I'm fascinated also by your impact, uh, in the field of specially commissioned flutes, I think from three companies.
Sir James Galway: Oh, yeah, concertos.
Michael Shapiro: Now let's talk about that. How are they commissioned? And what are you looking for from either, I don't know, from the, uh, Galway Crusader flute, or the Nagahara flute series, or the Q series, uh, that's put out by Haynes? I mean, what... how are they different, and what are you telling them—telling them to do when they manufacture them?
Sir James Galway: Well, we're trying, we're trying
to get, uh, flutes that are of a high enough quality and cheap enough for students to afford, and for young professionals to afford. You know, and, and, and, and I, I do my best to influence, uh, the most important part of the flute, which is the, the embouchure plate.
Michael Shapiro: Mmm.
Sir James Galway: The little chimney that you blow on here.
Michael Shapiro: Does it matter what they're made out of? Silver, gold, platinum?
Sir James Galway: Uh, I, I, I know my flute makers are going to kill me, but I don't think so. (Whispers) We won't tell them. We won't say.
Michael Shapiro: (Laughs) It's up here. It's here.
Sir James Galway: Um, I, I play on a platinum flute with a platinum riser. This is the, the little bit we're talking about, the riser. Some people have gold risers, some people have a completely gold flute. I have several completely gold flutes, and I like them all. In fact, the most popular flute that I own is the one that I used for the most of my recording career, and it's the one with the diamonds in it.
Michael Shapiro: Wow. What do the diamonds do?
Sir James Galway: Made by Muramatsu in, in America. Now, of course, I play a different flute. I play a Nagahara in, from Boston. But I play all these flutes all the time. You know, I play three or four of them all the time. Just change. But mostly I play my platinum one because I like it the best. The Flute Academy, ta-da! Well, it sort of came about after 30 years of teaching. The same time, the same place, and the same scales. And gradually, we saw from this collection of people who came to the class, they began to get jobs in places like, uh, Chicago Symphony, London Symphony, all these sort of places.
Michael Shapiro: Little, little bands.
Sir James Galway: Los Angeles.
Michael Shapiro: Yeah, yeah.
Sir James Galway: Yeah. I mean, really, really big-time flute players they all became. I mean, one of them just now has gone off to, uh, Abu Dhabi to, to teach the flute.
Michael Shapiro: Okay.
Sir James Galway: And she'll be a very good teacher because, you know, she plays everything from memory.
Michael Shapiro: Wow.
Sir James Galway: And plays it very well, too, I have to say. Beautiful player.
Michael Shapiro: Well, we're talk—at the Flute Academy, I know that, it's virtual this year, but in the past, you've been at some very lovely locations, um, in, uh, your area, and I think in, you know, in Europe. Um, what's the—what's the basic curriculum? What are you offering, offering there?
Sir James Galway: Well, I'll give you a description of how the day starts.
Michael Shapiro: Please.
Sir James Galway: In the morning, we have breakfast around about 8:00. And then we have, uh, warm-ups, and, and, and, and at the same time, I play the kids some films of flute players, including myself, (laughs) Marcel Moyse and stuff. And then we start doing an, um, interpretation of sound, how to get a good sound. So we do that for a bit, for about an hour, and then I begin to teach each privately. So
everyone gets a 40-hour, a 40-minute lesson. Then it moves along to lunchtime, and we have three 40-minute lessons in the afternoon—maybe five, not sure. Uh, can't remember. (Laughs)
Michael Shapiro: I know Lady Jeanne—Lady Jeanne is very active with you in this, in this Academy, and the two—the two of you are powerhouses in the way you put this together. It is extraordinary. I know there's a lovely website, and, um, I love seeing the—when she puts little quotes about it. So...
Lady Jeanne Galway: Hi.
Michael Shapiro: Hi there! There she is.
Lady Jeanne Galway: Yeah, this is my baby. You talk—you're talking about my baby here, the, the Academy. Um, I was just on the phone actually with my assistant, and she's making a whole new timeline and format for what we're going to be releasing October 1st.
Michael Shapiro: Magnificent. What is that?
Lady Jeanne Galway: Virtually. Um, you know, our Academy, it's just bringing everyone together, and the purpose, it's just an umbrella for everything that we do and all our outreaches, our community events we've been doing all over the world. Every time we had a concert, you know, bringing it for kids. We work with the Ravinia Music Matters program, we support that, we, we support so many programs. And one of the big things that we have done that got stalled that I'm just working on now is our 80 for 80. And for my husband's 80th birthday, we decided to go to some flute companies and ask for 80 flutes to distribute to some, some organizations that we work with, one of them being HOLA out in Los Angeles—you know, the Heart of Los Angeles.
Michael Shapiro: Right.
Lady Jeanne Galway: And also the Kaufman Music Center that we're big supporters of, um, in, in New York, and some other various, and also the Music Matters program in Ravinia, and also some in England, Ireland, everywhere we are. Um, but as soon as we reached 80, which was very quick, my number went up to 800. (Laughs) Because that, you know, this Galway Gives Back is what we're all about, and, um, so what we did initiate this summer was, uh, the Galway at Home series, which is our free, um, you know, live Facebook, uh, teaching things. And, uh, you know, it's all about mentoring. I just, just now, wrote to two of my students that were communicating. Um, you know, and especially now, we have to really, really, we have to get out of our little shell here and encourage the others. And, um, it's a little hard, it's hard for us, too, because, you know, it's just, everything for us has stopped, too, but we just have to keep pushing ahead.
Michael Shapiro: Well, the pushing is great and, frankly, the impact that you both have had over so much time and, and going into the future, I have the best wishes for both of you. Um, you both understand German, but I'll give you some Yiddish, which is bis hundert und zwanzig, which is the age of, um, Moses. So you got, you got 40 more years there, Jim—Jimmy. (Laughs) You got a lot of flute playing left. So, Sir James Galway, Lady Jeanne Galway, this has been an immense pleasure for you to join me. Thank you.
Lady Jeanne Galway: Thank you.
Sir James Galway: Thank you. Bye for now.
Lady Jeanne Galway: Thank you, Michael. Take care.
Michael Shapiro: This is Michael Shapiro on Interplay, Conversations in Music. You've heard Sir James Galway and Lady Jeanne Galway. Thank you both.