Belfast will always remain part of my musical heritage – Sir James Galway

Sir James Galway has spoken about how growing up playing in a flute band in Belfast helped to shape his musical heritage.

The musician has returned to his home city where he will be presented with an honorary doctorate by Ulster University on Saturday.

Sir James, 85, will be honoured for his contribution to classical music, his international artistic influence, and his continuing connection to the city of his birth.

This is where I grew up, this is where I learnt to play the flute and to this day it remains part of me

Sir James Galway

After starting out playing in local flute bands, his musical journey brought him to the heights of being principal flautist of the Berlin Philharmonic and selling more than 30 million albums as a solo artist.

He has collaborated with artists as varied as Luciano Pavarotti, The Chieftains and Sir Elton John – and performed in concert halls across the world.

But he told the PA news agency that it feels “great” to come back home to Belfast.

He said: “This is where I grew up, this is where I learnt to play the flute and to this day it remains part of me.”

Regarding Saturday’s honour, he added: “It is something very special and something that I feel I will cherish for a long time because you don’t get these things for nothing.

“I am looking forward to it.”

Sir James Galway in Belfast with his wife Lady Jeanne Galway (Jonathan McCambridge/PA)

Sir James said he was particularly excited that the ceremony was taking place at the university’s Belfast campus which is close to where he grew up and where he played with the City of Belfast Youth Orchestra as a child.

He said: “I can’t tell you how proud I was to play in this little orchestra.

“We used to do special arrangements of pieces like Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony and we would start playing and you wouldn’t even recognise it.

“Later on, years later, I met them in Berlin and they were playing Beethoven’s Fifth, the whole thing.

I never thought I would see the day that Belfast had such a great youth orchestra

“I thought this orchestra has come a long way since I was playing in it.

“I never thought I would see the day that Belfast had such a great youth orchestra.”

The artist, popularly known as “The Man with the Golden Flute”, said he still enjoys teaching students from around the world how to play the flute.

He said: “I have students all over the place.

“It is great when you see a kid standing in front of you, and the same kid a month later, you wouldn’t believe your ears.

“Of course, I really put their nose to the grindstone.”

Sir James said his musical awakenings began on the streets of Belfast when he was a young boy.

The legendary flautist continues to teach students from around the world (Jonathan McCambridge/PA)

He said: “We had a toy shop called the Wendy and it had a lucky dip and you could put 3p or 5p in to take something out and I always fiddled around to see if I could get a tin whistle and mostly I did.

“That was great because the kids in the street could all practise and I let them have a go on my tin whistle.

“We had a wooden flute in the house. It was a very good flute so that one I used until I got a silver flute.

“I was nine years old at the time and I thought I knew more than my dad.

“He didn’t like that so I went round the corner and learnt with my uncle Joe.

“He was great because he could play the flute and he then asked me if I’d like to join a band called the Onward Flute Band. I said sure, so he gave me the music to learn.

“I was amazed when I first played in this band because I couldn’t hear myself play.

“I said to uncle Joe ‘What do I do, I can’t hear myself play?’

He said, ‘That’s okay, just keep doing what you are doing.’ So I did.”

Sir James added: “I couldn’t wait for uncle Joe to come home from work.

“Before he had sat down to have dinner, I would be blowing a flute in his ear.”