Jesper Juul Windahl
Jesper Juul Windahl was born in 1973. After graduating from Thisted Upper Secondary School, he studied trombone at the Royal Academy of Music, and followed this up with studies in Paris, Chicago and London, as well as at the Royal Danish Academy of Music, where he made his debut in 1998. Jesper Juul Windahl is a distinguished performer with an extensive career as an orchestral musician, soloist and chamber musician at international level. He also has teaching experience from several academies of music, and a parallel career as a conductor, for which he also trained at RDAM.
Teaching
Jesper has been a professor at RDAM since 2014, where he teaches trombone and has overall responsibility for all the brass players.
He has also previously taught at the academies of music in Aarhus, Esbjerg and Malmö, and he regularly teaches in courses, festivals and masterclasses in Denmark and abroad (see below for more details).
Artistic practice
At the age of just 23, Jesper was appointed principal trombonist with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, and he has worked in this prominent position ever since. For a number of years he was also a permanent member of Athelas Sinfonietta, and he has been very active as a chamber musician in various contexts, including as the initiator of ensembles such as Den Danske Basunkvartet and the Danish Brass Quintet.
Jesper has won prizes in several international soloist competitions, and was named Artist of the Year by the P2 radio channel of the Danish Broadcasting Corporation in 2000-2001. He has performed as a soloist in many contexts, including with a number of international orchestras such as the Südwestrundfunk Sinfonie-orchester, Bayerischer Rundfunk, Munich, and the Suisse Romande Orchestra. As a soloist he has recorded several CDs, including Romantic Trombone Concertos with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra. Finally, he has been very active in the creation of new Danish trombone literature, and has premiered a large number of works for trombone.
Several composers have dedicated works to Jesper:
- Søren Hyldgaard: Concerto Borealis
- Hans Abrahamsen: Charon
- Torstein Aagaard-Nielsen: Concerto for Trombone and String Orchestra, Skuld, Octos Adventure, Cantilena - Cradle Song
- Bo Holten: Ebbe Skammelsøn
- Peter Bruun: Twelve to remember, twelve to come
- Erik Bach: Quasi Modo
- Jakob Lorentzen: Fem kristusbilleder
- Flemming Friis: Apokalyptiske Danse
- Mads Høck: Diptyque
In recent years, Jesper has conducted, amongst others, the Danish Chamber Orchestra, Athelas Sinfonietta, the Danish National Symphony Orchestra and the Danish regional orchestras. In 2009-2012 he was principal conductor of the Prince’s Music Corps, and he is currently conductor of the Concord Brass Band.
Recruitment
Jesper organises and instructs the Brass and Percussion Day at RDAM, and occasionally teaches the preparatory class for academies (MGK) and various courses.
Jesper has won prizes at international trombone competitions in Munich, Geneva and at the Nordic Soloists’ Biennale, as well as from Juventus-France and the European Broadcast Union. He was named Classical Artist of the Year by the Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR) in 2000/2001, and in 2003 he won the European Conductors’ Competition in Bergen.
Pedagogical development (PUV)
Jesper is currently developing a trombone app, which will later be developed into a brass instrument app.
Research
Technical studies for trombone – including for use in the app.
Over the years, Jesper has given numerous masterclasses around the world, including in:
- Norway: Norwegian Academy of Music, Oslo, Grieg Academy, Bergen
- Sweden: the academies of music in Malmö, Gothenburg and Stockholm
- Germany: Hannover
- UK: Birmingham, London
- China: Beijing, Jinbao
- USA: Cleveland, Chicago, NY, Texas
- France: Paris
- Switzerland: Lausanne, Geneva
- Austria: Graz
- Canada: Québec
Jesper has also participated in a considerable amount of Distance Learning through RDAM.
Jesper is a moderator at academies of music and music schools in Aarhus, Odense, Oslo, Stockholm, Malmö and Geneva.
He has also been a jury member at several international competitions – for example in Jinbao, and for the International Trombone Association.
Representative duties, directorships
1996-2014: Member of the board of directors of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra (DNSO)
CD releases
Launy Grøndahl, Vagn Holmboe, Axel Jørgensen, Søren Hyldgaard
Romantiske Basunkoncerter
Jesper Juul Windahl, the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Henrik Vagn Christensen, Thomas Dausgaard
Dacapo 6.220526
Vagn Holmboe
Præludier for Sinfonietta Vol. 2
Jesper Juul Windahl, Thomas Ekman, Anne Søe, Anne Mette Stæhr, Athelas Sinfonietta Copenhagen, Giordano Bellincampi
Dacapo 8.224124
Var.
Songs for Trombone
Jesper Juul, The Prince’s Music Corps, Henrik Vagn Christensen
Hithouse Prod. B00A1HZ5UC
Various Composers
Sacred Danish Music for Trombone and Organ
Jesper Juul, Jakob Lorentzen
CDK 1036
Bo Holten
Wisdom and folly; and other choral works
Klaudia Kidon, Jesper Juul, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Danish National Girls’ Choir, Danish National Radio Choir
Chandos 1549992
Various composers
150th Anniversary of the Royal Danish Academy of Music
Jesper Juul Windahl and others
Dacapo 8.201202
Johan de Meij, Søren Hyldgaard, Torstein Aagaard-Nilsen, Launy Grøndahl
T-Bone Music
Jesper Juul Windahl, Danish Concert Band, Jørgen Misser Jensen
Rondo RCD 8377
Edward Gregson, Johan de Meij, David Gillingham, Jan van der Roost
The Sword and the Crown
Jesper Juul Windahl, Anders G. Karlsen, Jesper Frederiksen, Thomas Teisner, Jakob Weber Egholm, Lasse Mauritzen, Danish Concert Band, Jørgen Misser Jensen
Rondo RCD 8371
Various composers
Letters from Home
Lyngby-Taarbæk Brass Band
As conductor
Various composers
Decade of brass: 10 år med Lyngby-Taarbæk Brass Band
Lyngby-Taarbæk Brass Band
LTBB CD 001
Various composers
Lad det klinge sødt – Christmas Carols og danske julesange
Lyngby-Taarbæk Brass Band, Tritonus Koret
T-LTBB 001
