“Running” by Bryan Johanson:
Biography
Since the 1970s James Reid has performed hundreds of concerts in the United States and Canada appearing in concerts for guitar societies, colleges and universities, and for arts councils. He has been a featured artist at numerous festivals including the Sun Waves Guitar Festival in Miami, Guitar New Orleans, The Portland Guitar Festival, The Elkhorn Festival, The Guitar and Lute Institute in Arcata, California, and the Fairbanks Summer Music Festival. Mr. Reid is also the founder of the Northwest Guitar Festival, an annual festival that rotates among different cities in the Northwest.
Reid has released eight solo recordings that have been reviewed favorably both in the U.S and abroad. He has commissioned works by Bryan Johanson, Maximo Diego Pujol, Gwyneth Walker, and Andrew York. His repertoire includes recent compositions as well traditional repertoire by composers ranging from John Dowland to Joaquin Rodrigo. Mr. Reid has given presentations at three different international guitar festivals on the music of Abel Carlevaro, on the music of Maximo Diego Pujol, and on the music of Bryan Johanson. In 1998, he was the recipient of a grant from the University of Idaho Research Council to record the music of the 19th century virtuoso-composer Johann Kaspar Mertz. In September of 1999 his recording, Sounds of the Bard, was featured on National Public Radio’s Performance Today program. Most recently, Mr. Reid has released, Guitarra Americana, which features a world premiere recording of his own composition, Homages.
Aside from his activities as a performer and teacher Mr. Reid served for eight years as the Review Editor for Recordings for Soundboard, the quarterly publication of the Guitar Foundation of America. He has also served as a judge for numerous state, regional, national, and international competitions.
In 2020, James Reid retired from the University of Idaho where he had directed the guitar program since 1978. In retirement Reid continues to perform and also enjoys reading, playing golf, hiking, and cooking.
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“…it was wonderful to see Mr. Reid possess a perfect mastering of his fingerwork. Both his left and his right hand stroked the strings seemingly effortlessly, betraying years of dedicated practice.” --Kootenay News
“Reid is a Northwest treasure who deserves more national attention.” --Moscow-Pullman Daily News
“Reid brought a nice elegance to the music with very clean ornaments and quiet squeak-free playing.” --Seattle Classic Guitar Society
“Reid invested his program with rare qualities of restraint and taste.” --Ellensburg Daily Record
On the recording Birds:
“It is a very solid effort, featuring the complete Preludios Americanos of Carlevaro as well the eponymous work by John Duarte and two pieces by Albeniz. The gem of the album is the set Four American Folk Songs written for Reid by Gwyneth Walker. This work is in the same vein as Robert Beaser’s Mountain Songs but is much less hard-edged, providing one of the most successful treatments of American songs I have heard.”--Albert Kunze, Soundboard
On the recording Sounds of the Bard:
“James Reid performs the pieces very well. This is a clear, closely recorded CD with some very pleasant moments.” --Classical Guitar Magazine
On the recording Higher Ground:
“The classical guitar has seldom had a more elegant steward, and here Reid performs a rich array of classical and contemporary pieces.” --Canon Press