James Nightingale

Photo credit Noni Carroll

James Nightingale is the alto saxophonist with Australia’s premier saxophone quartet, Continuum Sax. He has performed regularly as a casual saxophonist with Sydney’s orchestras since 1993, performing with the Sydney Symphony on their tour of Italy in 2008 and recording Rachmaninov’s Symphonic Dances under the direction of Vladimir Ashkenazy conducting in 2007. James performed as soloist with the Sydney Symphony for ABC Television’s Quest ’95 program, and was a finalist in this competition as a member of the Senarius Saxophone Quartet.

James is currently the President of the New Music Network (NMN) and also served as Vice-President from 2004 to 2007. During this time he has been at the heart of the direction of the NMN, serving as artistic director of the NMN Concert Series (2007-2011) and the NMN Mini-Series (2005-2008).

James has a strong interest in Australian music and works by Barry Cockcroft, Paul Stanhope and Stuart Greenbaum have been dedicated to him. He has recorded a solo CD, Drive, of Australian music for saxophone and his playing is featured on CDs of music by Andrew Ford, (Harbour, TP 128), Andrée Greenwell (Dreaming Transportation ABC records), and Raffaele Marcellino (Heart of Fire ABC Classics).

James completed a PhD at the University of Queensland in 2011 and holds degrees of both Master of Music (performance) and Bachelor of Music from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. James was awarded the prize of ‘Student of the Year’ at the Sydney Conservatorium on completing his undergraduate degree in 1992.

James has extensive experience as a saxophone teacher and examiner, including fourteen years as a member of part-time casual staff at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music (1996-2009). He was engaged by the Australian Music Examinations Board to be the consultant editor for the AMEB Saxophone Series 2 grade books (released in 2008).

James Nightingale Performing Bo by Barry Cockcroft