 James Gillespie
serves as Regents Professor of Music at the University of North Texas in Denton.
Prior to joining the U. N. T. faculty in 1978, he served as a faculty member
at Concord College, Indiana State University (adjunct), University of Redlands
and Northeast Louisiana University (Monroe). He holds the master’s and
doctorate degrees in clarinet/woodwinds from Indiana University where he studied
clarinet with Henry Gulick. He has also studied with Mitchell Lurie. His reference
books on works for reed trio and solos for unaccompanied clarinet have become
standard references in the field, and he has edited works for Musica Rara,
Southern Music Company and Billaudot. For the past 28 years he has been the
editor of The Clarinet, the quarterly journal of the International Clarinet
Association. He has performed at clarinet conferences in Denver, Oberlin,
Quebec, Cincinnati, Tempe, Columbus, Lubbock, Oklahoma, Fresno, Ostend, Stockholm,
China, Salt Lake City, Paris and Tokyo and has given solo and chamber music
recitals in England, Scotland, Japan, Hong Kong, Hungary, Germany, Puerto
Rico and Taiwan. Composers from France, England, Belgium and the United States
have dedicated works to him, and he has premiered several new works for clarinet.
In 1994, 1995 and 1997 he served on the jury for the Dos Hermanas International
Clarinet Competition in Spain, and during the summer of 1997 he performed
at the I. C. A. ClarinetFest at Texas Tech, the Cracow Clarinet Festival in
Cracow, Poland and the first-ever European Clarinet & Saxophone Conference
in Budapest, Hungary. He performs as a member of the Texas Clarinet Consort.
His former students hold positions in numerous colleges and universities throughout
the United States and in major military bands in Washington, D.C. Several
have been semi-finalists and prizewinners in the I.C.A. Young Artist Competition
and on two occasions winners in the clarinet category of the Yamaha Young
Performing Artist program. In 2005 he was honored by the International Clarinet
Association with its Lifetime Achievement Award at the I.C.A. ClarinetFest
in Japan. He is an artist/clinician for G. Leblanc Corp. and Rico International.
“. . . super clarinet playing.” Clarinet and Saxophone (England)
“ . . . truly a pleasure to listen to, with all the smoothness and
control that really mark the musician at the instrument.” Mitchell
Lurie
“. . . Beautiful sound, admirable dynamic range, sensitive phrasing,
and, perhaps the most impressive facet of his artistry: his impeccable itonation.
. . should his next British recital take place in the Outer Hebrides, anybody
who appreciates fine clarinet playing should make every attempt to hear
him.” Crescendo (England)
“ . . . would have been a sensation at even the most prestigious
festivals in the world . . . excellent . . . particularly outstanding.”
Gazeta Wyborcza (Cracow, Poland)
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