John-Edward Kelly, of Vero Beach, passed away on Feb. 12, 2015, after a long and hard-fought battle with cancer.
He is survived by his wife Kristin Kelly and their four young children ages 5-months to 9-years-old.
Kelly was born in California and spent most of his adult life in Europe. His life as a performing musician brought him to many of the world’s most prestigious concert halls and music festivals, where he performed as soloist with many of the world’s greatest orchestras.
He gave the world-premieres of more than 200 new works written for him by leading composers from around the world; performed for kings and queens; and was praised in the international press as “the uncrowned king of his instrument.” His work is documented in 36 commercial recordings.
For more than a decade, Kelly was an internationally respected professor of music, first at the Robert Schumann Academy of Music in Dusseldorf, and then at the Norwegian State Academy of Music in Oslo. He guest-lectured at many of the world’s leading music academies, including Vienna’s University of Music, New York’s Juilliard School, the Eastman School of Music, King’s College in London, the Musikhochschulen of Berlin, Hamburg and Stuttgart and the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm. In 1999, he was unanimously elected a member of the prestigious Royal Swedish Academy of Music.
One of Kelly’s crowning professional achievements was his 2005 founding of the extraordinary Arcos Orchestra of New York, which by 2012 was already celebrated by one of the world’s leading music critics as “undoubtedly one of the best chamber orchestras in the world.” Kelly’s programming philosophy for the Arcos Orchestra was the same he had used his entire performing career: wonderful new music which hasn’t had a fair chance and great older music that has fallen by the wayside of history.
He was an avid champion of the music by the Dutchman Tristan Keuris (1946-1996) and the Swede Anders Eliasson (1947- 2013), and enjoyed friendships with such renowned composers as Iannis Xenakis (1922-2001) and Witold Lutoslawski (1913-1994), whose last work begun was a concerto for John-Edward Kelly.
The son of an Air Force pilot and JAG officer (military attorney), Kelly turned down an appointment to the Air Force Academy to pursue his love of music, but he remained an aviation enthusiast his entire life as a pilot and flight instructor. He was proud of having been a Son of the American Revolution on both sides of his family and that a paternal forefather had served with George Washington at Valley Forge.
Despite his rich list of professional accomplishments, Kelly took his greatest delight in his family. He was a completely devoted husband and father who will be sorely missed.
In lieu of flowers contributions may be made to “The Kelly Children Donation Account” for future education, in care of Chase Bank (Leidys C. Lorenzo, 772-569-3356). A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated 1 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 21, 2015 at Holy Cross Catholic Church, Vero Beach. Arrangements are under the direction of Strunk Funeral Home and Crematory, Vero Beach. An online guestbook is available at www.strunkfuneralhome.com.
