John Harle
Grand final
John Harle is an Ivor Novello award-winning saxophonist, composer and record producer, whose work spans musical genres from classical to contemporary pop.
His early work gained public acclaim with his Saxophone Concertos album on EMI Classics which is widely seen as the definitive recording of the major classical works, and his playing has been the catalyst for an outpouring of new concertos by composers including Sir Harrison Birtwistle, Sir Richard Rodney Bennett, Marc Anthony Turnage, Sir John Tavener, Sally Beamish, Michael Nyman and Gavin Bryars. He has performed with countless orchestras and conductors worldwide and has sold over half a million CDs in the classical field alone.
John is the composer of over 100 film and TV scores, two operas and 50 concert works, including the theme to Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ1's Silent Witness, and the epic score to Simon Schama’s A History of Britain. He is the recipient of an Ivor Novello award and two Royal Television Society awards for Best Music.
He has been musical director and producer for Moondog, Herbie Hancock, Elmer Bernstein, Ute Lemper, Lesley Garrett, Kathryn Tickell, Michael Nyman, Sir John Dankworth and Dame Cleo Laine. He is the founder and producer of Sospiro Records.
John was appointed the youngest ever Professor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, starting the saxophone department at the age of 26, and his teaching has produced many of the leading players of today. He is now Visiting Professor of Saxophone at The Guildhall School, where he leads a Masters degree in Creative Saxophone Performance, whilst also continuing to teach and mentor saxophonists and composers from all parts of the globe. He is the author of The Saxophone (Faber Music), the definitive reference work on saxophone playing and performance.
