AlexBarham.com is A musician's website.
Title
Alex Barham - Jazz Guitarist/Composer
Description
Excerpted from the website:
- About Me
- When I was around 9 years old, my neighbour put on Led Zeppelin IV during a backyard party (it was the 70's and this sort of thing was common) and I was so inspired by the music that I begged my Mother for a guitar. Being a single Mother of 5 children it took some time and she eventually had enough to buy a classical guitar and pay for some lessons. I played mostly rock for a few years and wanted to be the next Jimmy Page or Eddie Van Halen.
Additional Information
Alex Barham was born on November 3rd, 1967 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
At the age of 9, he began lessons on the guitar. His first interests were in the music of the time - Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Supertamp, etc. He took lessons for about 1 year but due to his family's financial difficulties, stopped taking lessons. When he was 14, he picked up "Solo Guitar Playing" by Frederick Noad. It was at this time that he developed an interest in classical music. He took some lessons and decided that he wanted to compose music. He studied some classical composition in Ottawa.
When he was 18, he took some courses at the University of Ottawa in ear training. It was at this time that he decided to attend Fanshawe College's Music Industry Arts program. He attended Fanshawe College from 1988 to 1990. He took a break from post secondary education for 3 years. He then enrolled at Carleton University in the Bachelor of Music program. He attended Carleton University for 2 years taking classical composition and theory and film studies. At this point, he developed an interest in jazz music. He was accepted in the Bachelor of Fine Arts program in Jazz Studies at Concordia University in Montreal. There, he studied jazz composition and arranging with Joe Sullivan and Andrew Homzy.
After he finished his studies at Concordia, he remained in Montreal for the next 3 years. He did very little composing or playing during this time. He then moved to Guelph, Ontario in August of 1999. In Guelph, he went back to composing music and playing. He played with his wife, Valerey Lavergne, in a jazz trio for several years. He presently composes music and posts the music on his web site - http://www.alexbarham.com where listeners can download the creations for free.
