“James Donahue and [pianist] Beilin Han wrapped up the showcase, playing the Sonata in A major by Cesar Franck...This masterfully played work carried us full circle...James brought a lovely legato and rich tone colors to this quintessentially Romatic work.”
James Donahue is principal flutist of the Evanston Symphony Orchestra, a position he has held since 2015. As an active freelance musician in the Chicagoland area, he has appeared as guest principal flute with the Rockford Symphony and a regular substitute on flute, piccolo, and alto flute with the Rockford, Elgin and Elmhurst Symphony Orchestras, and the Midwest Philharmonic.
As a concerto soloist James has performed Mozart’s G major flute concerto with the Midwest Philharmonic, and in 2008 he gave the premier performance of Timothy McCormack’s Tumma Pilvi for solo bass flute and chamber ensemble with members of the Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble. The latter work was written for and dedicated to James.
James is an enthusiastic recitalist whose programming spans the entire gamut of the flute repertoire from Baroque to Contemporary. He has a particular interest in the works of 20th and 21st century Japanese composers such as Takemitsu, Fukushima, Yuasa, and Hosokawa. He has presented numerous lecture recitals on how the writing of these composers is influenced by the Zen Honkyoku repertoire of the Japanese Shakuhachi (an end-blown Bamboo flute developed by Buddhist monks).
In demand as a teacher, James has been the flute instructor at Knight Music Academy in North Barrington since 2011. He also maintains a private studio at his home in the northwest Chicago suburbs. His students range in age from eight to eighty years old! Formerly he taught flute and chamber music at the Midwest Conservatory of Music from 2011-2022. Each summer from 2014-2019 James was on the faculty of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Flute Camp, where he taught masterclasses in flute repertoire, piccolo, and a course on world flutes. His students have won or placed in many prestigious competitions including those of the Chicago Flute Club, Wisconsin Flute Club, Society of American Musicians, Illinois Music Educators Association, and various concerto competitions. Many have gone on to pursue music at notable universities such as Northwestern, Roosevelt, and Yale.
James plays Powell flutes, mostly performing on a custom platinum flute with gold keys or a grenadilla wood flute with gold keys. When not pursuing his musical activities, he is an American Kennel Club dog show judge, and and travels the world judging and showing dogs.
“James Donahue was another delightful surprise...[his use of] varied breath attacks, articulations, timbral trills, multi-phonics, key clicks, flutter tounging, and vocalizing while playing the flute enthralled the audience!”