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UI music instructor sets ‘Birds’ free
James Reid has been teaching guitar at the University of Idaho since 1978, but he began performing music at the age of 12.
He said that he took lessons for several instruments that were not holding his interest until he took over a guitar that his sister left idle.
“I listened to songs on the radio and then I started to play in bands in high school and college until I got interested in classical guitar,” Reid said.
On Jan. 28, Reid held a concert at the Lionel Hampton School of Music to promote his newly produced album, “Birds” and to premier an original two-piece composition.
While on sabbatical leave last semester, Reid used the opportunity to record music by Gwyneth Walker, Abel Carlevaro, Isaac Albéniz and John Duarte.
“You want to leave some kind of record of your work. When a live performance is over, the second you finish it’s gone forever,” Reid said. “This is a tangible manifestation of your work.”
At the concert, Reid performed “Preludios Americanos” by Abel Carlevaro as well as “Mallorca” and “Zambra Granadina” by Albéniz.
Many of the songs from the recital are included on “Birds.”
“It’s different hearing it and seeing it created in front of you than seeing it on a DVD that you throw into a machine,” Reid said.
Midway through the concert, Reid was joined by fellow music professor, Roger Cole on clarinet.
The two performed a series of four songs originally composed for them by Bryan Johanson, chair of the Portland State University music department.
“We got this new piece last spring, and got the manuscript this summer and started rehearsing,” Cole said. “We knew we had a real central attraction.”
Tuesday’s recital was the first time that the original preludes had been performed for an audience.
“We’d really like to perform them at other events,” Reid said, “… really in any place they’re interested in hearing new music.”
The concert was organized by the artists themselves and was attended by a mix of music students and general audience.
“We’re hoping if they’re music majors that they’ll be able to hear the instrument in its classical setting,” Cole said. “When we’re in the studio, we’re studying the repertoire in four walls, and that has nothing to do with walking onto a stage. It’s an emotional and psychological load.”
Aside from working at UI, Reid has taught music at Washington State University, Spokane Falls Community College and Lewis-Clark State College.
He has performed at several guitar festivals in Buffalo, Miami, New Orleans and Portland.
Reid also founded a regional guitar festival that has sporadically taken place in Moscow, Seattle, Spokane, Boise, Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary
and Bozeman.
However, the LHSOM is a place where Reid and other music administrators go to premier their solo work.
“We make the (performance) opportunities ourselves, and this hall is well used,” Cole said. “Solo recitals are usually a product of our own industry. It usually comes out of time we have on our own, not during our teaching schedule.”
For the next step, Reid said that he is interested in recording chamber music including guitar. He has considered recording Johanson’s piece as well as producing music for two guitars, guitar with violin and guitar with voice.
Following the UI performance, Reid plans to present two concerts in Canada.
“Birds” has been released independently and is available in Moscow at Paradise Ridge CD’s and Tapes and at the UI Student Bookstore.
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