James Wayne (musician)

James D. Wayne (born December 1937 on Long Island, New York) is an American concert band conductor and recording engineer.

He graduated from Hofstra University with a B.A. in Psychology and a M.S. in Music EducationHe is married and lives in Tarrytown, New York.

Conducting positions

*Mr. Wayne served as band director at New Rochelle High School in New Rochelle, New York in the 1970s. During that time the band program he ran there became well known for its quality.
*From 1978 through 1981 he was Music Director and Conductor of the American Symphonic Wind Ensemble
*From 1978 through 1981 he was Music Director and Conductor of the University of Bridgeport Symphonic Wind Ensemble.

Hudson Valley Wind Symphony

In 1988, Mr. Wayne co-founded (with friend and former student Robert LaPorta) the Hudson Valley Wind Symphony, a musical ensemble in Westchester County, New York. It was a concert band for adult amateur musicians, and performed classical music and traditional band repertoire. Mr. Wayne served as the group's conductor and music director from its founding until 2004, when a dispute erupted between him and the organization's board of directors. He took a sudden leave of absence in November 2004 and resigned his position on 1 April 2005 (April Fool's Day). The president of the organization was quoted in the "New York Times" saying that there had been "considerable acrimony" between Mr. Wayne and the board. [The New York Times, 27 February 2005, "Footlights" column by Roberta Hershenson. Accessed 29 January 2007 at http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30714FF3C590C748EDDAB0894DD404482]

The article went on to quote a band member saying that Mr. Wayne had set a high standard, creating "musical performances of a more refined nature than most people would associate with a band."

Hudson Valley Symphonic Wind Ensemble

After parting ways with the group he co-founded, Mr. Wayne formed a new smaller group with the same purpose - a wind band of volunteer adult band musicians. He called the new group the Hudson Valley Symphonic Wind Ensemble and scheduled its rehearsals to conflict with those of the Hudson Valley Wind Symphony, thereby forcing its members to choose between staying with their group and staying with their long-time conductor. The new ensemble gave its first concert in fall 2005.

It appeared to the board of directors of the Hudson Valley Wind Symphony felt that the name chosen by Mr. Wayne for his new group was designed to create confusion with the name of the existing group. Rather than mount a legal challenge, they changed the name of the original organization to Westchester Symphonic Winds.

Commissions

Mr. Wayne has effected commissions of new classical works for symphonic band. He has commissioned works from Eric Ewazen, Bill Holcombe, William H. Silvester, Elliot Del Borgo, and Joseph Willcox Jenkins.

econd Hearing Records

In 1984 Mr. Wayne founded Second Hearing Records, one of the first commercial all-compact disc labels. He shared in the 1987 Liszt Grand Prix du Disque International for his work as a recording engineer for a recital by Joseph Villa.

ilverdisc Productions

In 1989 Mr. Wayne founded Silverdisc Productions in White Plains, New York. He specializes in the production and manufacturing of compact disc audio supplements for college music textbooks. This Silverdisc Productions has no connection to the recording studio in Miami by the same name [www.silverdiscproductions.net] .

References

External links

* [http://www.hvwindensemble.org/ Hudson Valley Wind Ensemble web site]
* [http://www.westchestersymphonicwinds.org Westchester Symphonic Winds web site]