A Masterful Collaboration

Before the Galway Model flute and headjoint was created, there were other early projects in which Sir James greatly inspired and advised Kanichi Nagahara from the stand point of a master flutist. The Galway Locking Crown was the first ever project collaboration between Nagahara and Galway. Additionally, he was the inspiration of the 20k gold signature alloy created in 2007.

Finally, after years of wanting to collaborate with a maker in creating a flute ideal to meet the high demands of the professional flutist, Sir James Galway approached Mr. Nagahara in 2008 about the idea to make a Galway Model Flute. Together they discussed the specification of this project and enhancements to be made to the current instrument. The Galway Model Flute was succesfully launched at the 2009 National Flute Association Convention in NYC. Because this instrument was developed with the inspiration of the already-know-as "Man with the Golden Flute", the Galway Model flute was only to be made in gold tubing option. At that time it was agreed to keep the Standard Model headjoint on the Galway model flute, as that was the headjoint style Sir James preferred most.

Two years later, Kanichi Nagahara decided it was time to develop a headjoint that would allow every flutist to have the same ease of playing and expression that was projected every time he heard Sir James Galway perform. With Sir James' approval, he observed greatly his and other flutist's style of playing to create the new headjoint model. This project led to the creation of not only a new embouchure cut but also a different lipplate design. After much experimentation and research, the Galway Model Headjoint was debuted for the first time at the 2011 Galway Japan Tour.

The  latest creation to date that has surfaced in the midst of this long lasting and masterful collaboration is the new Platinum Galway model flute made in early 2015. Sir James had played a platinum flute of another make years before and remembered the great projection power it had.  Mr. Nagahara has never been a fan of platinum as every flute he tried that was made of this very dense material seem to have a "one tone-color trick", was too heavy, stuffy and hard to express through. However, he accepted the challenge of making a platinum flute but with the idea to make a change for the better. He started with getting a much thinner tube than the standard platinum tube in the industry. Since the tubing manufacturer could not get the tube quite as thin as he wanted, Mr. Nagahara took it upon himself to meticulously sand down the tube’s OD by hand to get the right thickness desired for this special flute A lighter mechanism was also in mind for this instrument so he created a 9k Rose Gold alloy matching the same color as the 14k, 18k, 16k, and 20k gold alloys offered by Nagahara. The end result of this work was astonishing. Upon delivering the instrument to Sir James Galway at the 2015  Galway Masterclass in Weggis Switzerland, Sir James  quickly disappeared from the room to go try this new masterpiece, and three hours later showed up at the opening Gala Concert of the Festival with the new Platinum flute! The audience, who was composed of long time colleagues, students and Galway concert goers all had the same reaction: What an Amazing Sound!! 

Much lighter in weight that Sir James' 20k gold flute, this platinum flute holds the potential for greatness. Projection, expressiveness, color change, delicate nuance, beauty in tone, these are all things heard from this newly created masterpiece. The Galway Platinum Flute is the featured item of discussion at the 2015 Nagahara National Flute Association Convention Exhibitor Showcase and will be available at the convention for special viewing.

Going forward, the Galway-Nagahara bond continues to grow with much respect for each other's art sharing the interest to make improvements for the benefit of the flutist and a special friendship making all the work more fun than ever!