James Wylie
Saxophone
Saxophonist, clarinetist and composer James Wylie (b.1986), currently based in Thessaloniki, Greece, grew up in Wellington, New Zealand and was introduced to music through classical repertoire at a young age. After experience with piano and violin he settled on the saxophone in his teens serving as his introduction to jazz and improvised music.
James studied at the New Zealand School of Music in Wellington where he received his Bachelor of Music. During this time he was active both locally and internationally, performing in Australia, Greece, Italy, Poland, Austria, Germany, Canada, Sri Lanka and the US and was the recipient of prestigious awards such as grants from both the Aotea Performing Arts Trust and the Woolf Fisher Trust. The latter of these two awards allowed him to continue formal study at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, MA.
He graduated in 2010 with a Masters of Music (Honours) in Jazz Performance. Whilst in Boston he studied privately with many renowned musicians, both in Boston and abroad, such as Hayden Chisholm, Frank Gratkowski, Anthony Coleman, Jerry Bergonzi, Allan
Chase, Dominique Eade, John McNeil, Cecil McBee, Bill McHenry, Tony Malaby and Chris Cheek. In 2011, James reclocated to Berlin involving himself in a wide variety of musical activities and collaborations with dance and theatre.
He has also performed or recorded with Anthony Coleman, Gunther Schuller, Hayden Chisholm, Max Andrzjewski, Thimios Atzakas, Antonis Anissegos, Michalis Siganidis, Elias Stemeseder, Sam Rivers, Wayne Shorter, Jonathan Crayford, Matthias Bauer, Jorrit Djikstra, Anna Webber, Bob Moses, Cecil McBee, Russ Garcia, Frank Carlberg and has created music for Boston-based, Company1.
His musical interests include the investigation of microtonality and its application to the saxophone. James is also involved in study of overtones and non-tempered intonation systems and developing an improvisational language for solo saxophone performance. Other areas of interest are the music of Greece, Armenia, Turkey, and the near east and continuing instrumental studies on the Politiki Lyra (Klasik Kemençe).