BIOGRAPHY
Jeffery Wilson is perhaps best known as a composer. He studied at the Royal College of Music, Cambridge and Paris and numbers among his teachers John Lambert, Herbert Howells, Gordon Jacob and Olivier Messiaen. His performances and recordings range from pop and jazz to classical and contemporary and he performs regularly with ‘Saxology’ and his own band ‘The Reduced History of Jazz’
Jeffery is coordinator and a Professor of Composition at Junior Guildhall and Professor of Saxophone at the Royal Military School of Music. He was principal examiner (Jazz) for Guildhall Exams and is now adviser and examiner for Trinity College London. He was for many years a supervisor on the music faculty at Cambridge University and a visiting lecturer at Utrecht Conservatorium in Holland.
Jeffery has a national and growing international reputation as a composer, performer and educator, equally at home in classical, contemporary and jazz music. He studied composition at the Royal College of Music with John Lambert and Herbert Howells and later with Aladar Majorossy, Gordon Jacob and in Paris with Olivier Messiaen.
An apprenticeship in music for dance and the theatre resulted in 34 dance scores to date and for the stage an Opera, a few musicals and some incidental music. Currently he has about 200 works in the repertoire with over a third of them published. He has been composer in residence in many European cities and with some notable orchestras including the London Festival Orchestra, London Mozart Players and the Northern Sinfonia. Jeffery performs in recital with pianists Tim Watts and for many years until his recent death, Henk Alkema. Jeffery has for 26 years performed with the contemporary quartet ‘Saxology’ and more recently with his own band ‘The Reduced History of Jazz’ and he continues to perform with numerous jazz and new music ensembles.
Jeffery was a visiting lecturer in composition, saxophone and improvisation at the Utrecht Conservatorium from 1986 until 2002 and was for a number of years a supervisor on the music faculty at Cambridge University teaching history, analysis and jazz. He maintains a relationship with the University as an examiner and for special projects. He recently ended a 22 year teaching relationship with the Colchester Institute to make more time for creative work. He currently divides his teaching commitments between Junior Guildhall where he is coordinator and a professor of composition and the Royal Military School of Music where he is Professor of Saxophone. Jeffery sustains a thriving private teaching practice numbering among his students some prominent professionals and University and Conservatoire students.
Adjudication has taken him all over Europe and much of the world and he is much in demand in this area of music making. Serving as principal examiner (Jazz) for eleven years at the Guildhall Examination service and a role as senior examiner and Saxophone and Jazz adviser for Trinity College London completes the picture here.
Recent and current composing projects include a Saxophone Concerto called 'Testament' for Rob Buckland and the Docklands Sinfonia under Spencer Down, a Clarinet Concerto entitled 'The Fallen' for HM Band The Welsh Guards, an electro acoustic piece 'Journeying' for Victoria Soames Samek, a new Trumpet and Piano piece called 'The Boy King' for Paul Archibald and a choral work for The Waltham Singers called 'Songs of Home'. The next project is the revision and extension of his musical for young people 'Whistles After Dark'.
Jeffery values the support of his publishers – Camden Music, Brasswind Publications, Saxtet, Reedimensions, Spartan Press, Queens Temple, Recital Music and Trinity College London
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