HARRISON, Jack Louis
12 August 1931 – 1 April 2013
Jack Harrison was a twin born in Nedlands to William Edward Harrison and Edna May Kerr.
HARMONICA
Jack’s musical career began aged 6 with the harmonica which he received as a present from his older brother Bill. By the time his father came home from work Jack could play the chorus of “When I Grow too Old to Dream”. The first competition Jack won was when he was aged 7 in January 1939 at a Scottish Community Concert at the Perth Town Hall. On Sunday May 7th 1939 Jack was guest artist in a “Radiola Rhythm” broadcast by Radio 6PR relayed to 6AM and 6WB and was by this time a representative for Hohner Harmonicas.
In October 1940, Jack won first prize (£75) in “Search for Talent” on the harmonica accompanied by his father on piano, competing against largely adults and professional players. As a result of this win Jack travelled with his father to Sydney, where Jack had lessons with famous harmonica soloist Horrie Dargie, and then travelled to Melbourne. His father had set up professional engagements for him with Sydney radio 2LO, picture theatre bookings and secured a contract to appear with Dick Freeman’s Orchestra at the Trocadero. As a result, Jack won the Nationwide Australia Amateur Hour in early 1941. Jack was offered a weekly recording session and broadcast which was recorded on a Sunday at the 6AM Studio in the Australian Broadcasting Commission’s Broadcast House.
During his primary years, Jack and his father performed at hundreds of fundraising and community events, especially supporting the R.S.L.
CLARINET
In 1944 aged 12, Jack started high school at Scotch College and began studying the clarinet with Percy Newton (he would ride his bike to his house with his clarinet strapped on the back) and later Alan Rule, then Principal Clarinet with the Perth Symphony Orchestra. In 1945 Jack started learning the saxophone from Ken Murdoch. Jack was the youngest member of the newly formed Australian Broadcasting Commission Perth Amateur Youth Orchestra formed in 1945 by Mr E.J. Roberts.
Sunday nights became “jam session” night at the Harrison’s Nedlands home, with all four children, Bill Jnr on saxophone, Ray on drums, Jill on piano and Jack on clarinet. Ray Harrison’s drumming talent received state wide recognition when in November 1946 the “Ray Harrison Swing Band”, consisting of Ray on drums and Jack on clarinet and saxophone and Jill on piano came third in the 6PM-AM “Search for Talent” Competition held at Fremantle Town Hall.
In 1947 Jack had been released from Scotch College being held by a promise to his father that he would devote his life to music practice. He formed his own dance band with his twin sister Jill and brother Ray and they performed jazz with “dash old-time” at “The Blue Room” and regularly at North Perth Town Hall. The band became fully professional and competed in the “National Fair”, a radio competition which enabled West Australian talent to be heard in the Eastern States, which they won in 1948.
From 1948 through to the end of 1950, Jack and his ensembles were employed full time for dances and radio broadcast, weddings and parties. At one of these dances he met his wife, Marcia Chayter.
CLASSICAL
In March 1949, Jack featured in a broadcast for the first time performing classical clarinet repertoire. On 17th January 1950, William Snr (aged 52), Jack and Jill (aged 18) sailed to Adelaide where Jill had won a scholarship to study bassoon and piano at the Adelaide Conservatorium. William and Jack then continued on to Melbourne and Sydney during which Jack performed with Frank Coughlan’s band in a series of swing concerts at the Trocadero and received an offer to stay with the band as a permanent member. He also received lessons from Clive Amadio.
In August 1950, Jack was invited to join the South Australian Symphony Orchestra as second clarinet by conductor Henry Krips. He accepted the position starting in November. Prior to that in October 1950 he performed the Australian premiere performances of Concerto for Clarinet by Artie Shaw and Clarinet a la King by Benny Goodman. In late October toured for 10 days with the Adult Education Board and then immediately departed for Adelaide. This meant leaving Marcia behind and missing his brother Ray’s wedding to Norma Webber.
After only three months in the South Australian Symphony Orchestra, Jack returned to Perth on 8th February 1951 to fill the second clarinet position with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra after the sudden death on January 18 1951 of second clarinettist Bob Trew. Jack was then the youngest member of the WA Symphony Orchestra. He announced his engagement to Marcia on his 21st birthday and they were married on 14th December 1953.
Jack and Marcia commissioned Iwan Iwanoff to design their family home at 11 Dodonia Gardens City Beach where they lived until 1993.
Jack Harrison’s classical clarinet career spanned 43 years in Australian Orchestras and he performed many times as soloist.
Some of his many career highlights included:
JACK HARRISON
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
PREMIERES
| DATE | WORK | ||
| 6.10.1949 | Artie Shaw
Concerto for Clarinet AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE |
Jack Harrison (clarinet)
John Nugent Haywood (conductor), Jazz Symphony Orchestra |
Capitol Theatre
Perth, Western Australia
|
| 5.10.1950 | Benny Goodman
Clarinet a la King AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE? |
Jack Harrison (clarinet)
Harry Bluck and his Concert Orchestra and Dance band |
Capitol Theatre
Perth, Western Australia Bruce Carroll presents “Symphony in Swing” |
| 1956 | Debussy
Premiere Clarinet Rhapsody
Debussy Saxophone Rhapsody
AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE being performed in same programme (maybe even in the world?) |
Jack Harrison (clarinet)
Jack Harrison (saxophone)
John Farnsworth Hall (conductor)
West Australian Symphony Orchestra
|
Capitol Theatre
Perth, Western Australia |
| 1956 | Eric Coates
Saxophone Rhapsody PERTH PREMIERE?
|
Jack Harrison (saxophone)
John Farnsworth Hall (conductor)
West Australian Symphony Orchestra
|
Free concert
Orchestral shell Supreme court Gardens Perth, Western Australia
Broadcast on 6WN from 8.30pm to 10pm |
| 21.2.1956 | James Penberthy
Wind Sextet (1954) AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE?
Dulcie Holland clarinet & piano pieces |
Jack Harrison (clarinet) Owen Fisenden (flute), Neil Pierson (horn), Ron Richmond (oboe), George Dreyfus and Claude Welling (bassoons) Phyllis Allen (accompanist) | Art Gallery Program
Art Gallery of Western Australia (inside the Jubilee Building on Beaufort Street,)
|
| 1958 | “The Lady is a Tramp”
|
Jack Harrison
piano, harmonica, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet, vibraphone and drums |
Multitracking A.B.C. and made a multitrack audio recording. Recording multiple isolated parts onto tape before mixing them down to a single master tape was a major technological leap for the music industry and explored and exploited new ways of over dubbing. Jack wrote the arrangement and then performed on eight different instruments going back and forward between two machines ten times.
|
| 19.6.1959 | Richard Strauss
Duett-Concertino for clarinet, bassoon, strings and harp AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE |
Jack Harrison (clarinet)
Jill Harrison (bassoon)
|
West Australian Symphony Orchestra
ABC Studio Broadcast |
| 1960 | Jack Harrison and Kit Denton (drums)
|
ABC live to air TV, demonstrating how to do a multi track recording. | |
| 11.5.1961 | ABC TV 1st birthday show | ||
| May 1961 | David Tunley
Introduction and Scherzo WORLD PREMIERE |
Jack Harrison (clarinet)
University Orchestral Society John Farnsworth Hall (conductor) |
Winthrop Hall, University of Western Australia
Radio Broadcast 6WF
|
| 1962 | Jack Harrison
Jumping Joeys for solo harmonica WORLD PREMIERE |
Verdon Williams (conductor) Shirley Fresfader (soprano) , Peter Piccini (accordion), Jack Harrison (clarinet and harmonica), Graham Wood (violin), Laslo Vidak (violin and viola) and Brian Meddeman (cello and violin) | Southern Serenaders
tour to the North of W.A. |
| Mar 1963 | Gordon Jacob
Rhapsody for Alto Saxophone and Strings (1948) AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE
Vaughan Williams Romance for Harmonica and Orchestra (1951) AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE
|
Jack Harrison (saxophone)
Jack Harrison (harmonica)
John Farnsworth Hall (conductor)
West Australian Symphony Orchestra |
ABC Free Concert, Supreme Court Gardens
Perth, Western Australia |
| 15.3.1963 | Aaron Copland
Clarinet Concerto (1948) AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE |
Jack Harrison (clarinet)
Perth Sinfonietta Verdon Williams (conductor) |
Free lunchtime concert
Winthrop Hall, University of Western Australia |
| 27.7.1963 | Howard Ferguson
Octet Op. 4 for clarinet, bassoon, horn, string quartet and double-bass (1933)
AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE
|
Jack Harrison (clarinet)
Jill Mowson (bassoon) John Mwson (bass) Patrick Brislan (horn) Oriel String Quartet |
ABC Broadcast
Basil Kirke Studio A.B.C. Adelaide Terrace, Perth, Western Australia |
| 17.4.1964
18.9.1964
|
Arthur Bliss
Clarinet Quintet (1932) AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE (performed in front of Bliss) |
Jack Harrison (clarinet)
Oriel String Quartet, Sir Arthur Bliss |
Studio performance
ABC Then Free lunchtime concert Winthrop Hall Undercroft University of Western Australia |
| May 1964 | William Walton
Façade PERTH PREMIERE Performed in front of Walton |
Jack Harrison
James Beattie (speaker) Verdon Williams (conductor) |
Festival of Perth
Basil Kirke Studio A.B.C. Adelaide Terrace, Perth, Western Australia |
| 1.12.1964 | Miles Davis’s “So What”
PERTH PREMIERE |
Jack Harrison (clarinet and alto-saxophone), Billy Clowes (piano) David Ellison (bass0 and Bill Tattersall (drums) | ABC TV live to air broadcast
Adelaide Terrace, Perth, Western Australia |
| 23.5.1965 | Trevor Jones
Cantata Zoologica (1963) Mixed choir (chorus) and wind quintet / quartet |
An archival recording of the piece exists in Australian music collections:
ABC Perth Studios (Western Australia)
|
|
| 16.9.1965 | Leonard Bernstein
Clarinet Sonata (1942) AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE? PERTH PREMIERE
|
Jack Harrison (clarinet)
Stephen Dornan (piano) |
Free lunchtime, Winthrop Hall Undercroft, University of Western Australia |
| 8.2.1966 | David Tunley
Clarinet Concerto WORLD PREMIERE
|
Jack Harrison (clarinet)
ABC Festival Orchestra, Vaughan Hanly (conductor) |
Festival of Perth: “Music of Britain” series
Basil Kirke Studio A.B.C. Adelaide Terrace, Perth, Western Australia |
| 8.3.1966 | Alan Rawsthorne
Quintet for Piano, Oboe, Clarinet, Horn, and Bassoon (1963) AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE |
Jack Harrison (clarinet)
Alice Carrard (piano), Peter Randall (oboe), Brian Pope (bassoon) and Neil Pierson (French horn) |
Festival of Perth: “Music of Britain” series
Basil Kirke Studio A.B.C. Western Australia
|
| 8.3.1966 | Trevor Jones
Cantata Zoologica (1963) Mixed choir (chorus) and wind quintet / quartet PERTH PREMIERE
|
Jack Harrison (clarinet)
Peter Randall (oboe), Brian Pope (bassoon) Neil Pierson (French horn) Neville Teede (narrator) Laughton Harris (conductor) W.A.Bach Society Choir |
Festival of Perth: “Music of Britain” series
Basil Kirke Studio A.B.C. Adelaide Terrace, Perth, Western Australia
|
| 8.5.1966 | Graham Wood
Quintet for Clarinet and Strings WORLD PREMIERE |
Jack Harrison (clarinet)
Oriel String Quartet |
Skinner Galleries
Kylie Music Club Western Australia |
| 30.09.1966 | Colin Brumby
Partite for Clarinet and String Orchestra PERTH PREMIERE |
Jack Harrison (clarinet)
West Australian Symphony Orchestra
|
Festival of Perth
Basil Kirke Studio ABC Letter from Colin Brumby |
| 29.1.1967 | Colin Brumby
Strophe for Clarinet, Violin and Piano (1964) AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE
Peter Tahourdin Clarinet Sonata PERTH PREMIERE |
Jack Harrison (clarinet)
Alice Carrard (piano) John Exton (violin) |
Festival of Perth
Free Studio Recital Basil Kirke Studio A.B.C. Adelaide Terrace, Perth, Western Australia |
| 10.6.1967 | John Ritchie
Concertino for Clarinet and String Orchestra (1957) AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE |
Jack Harrison (clarinet)
Perth Sinfonietta |
Free Studio Recital
Basil Kirke Studio A.B.C. Adelaide Terrace, Perth, Western Australia |
| 29.2.1968 | Richard Strauss
Arr. Hasenöhrl for five instruments Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche, Op. 28 AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE |
Graham Wood (Violin)
Jack Harrison (Clarinet) Jill Harrison (Bassoon) Patrick Brislan (Horn) John Mowson (Double Bass) |
Festival of Perth
Free Studio Recital Basil Kirke Studio A.B.C. Adelaide Terrace, Perth, Western Australia |
| 2.3.1968 | Vaughan Williams “Vocalisen” (1958)
AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE |
Jack Harrison (clarinet) Maurice Till (piano)
Rita Streich (soprano) |
Festival of Perth Winthrop Hall
University of Western Australia |
| 28.9.1968 | Igor Stravinsky
Soldier’s Tale Concert Suite (1920) PERTH PREMIERE |
Jack Harrison
(clarinet) Jill Mowson (bassoon) John Mowson (bass) Graham Wood (violin) Don Johnson (trumpet) Alan Mewett (trombone) Bryan Sadique (percussion) |
Free Concert
Basil Kirke Studio A.B.C. Adelaide Terrace, Perth, Western Australia |
| 6.10.1968 | Ravel
Introduction and Allegro (1905) PERTH PREMIERE |
Jack Harrison (clarinet), Oriel String Quartet Owen Fisenden (flute)
Alan Ratcliffe (harp) |
Free Concert,
Basil Kirke Studio A.B.C. Adelaide Terrace, Perth, Western Australia |
| 16.2.1971 | Debussy
Rhapsodie No. 1 |
Jack Harrison
(clarinet) Arthur Fiedler (conductor) |
Festival of Perth Winthrop Hall
University of Western Australia |
| 18.2.1971 | Dr Margaret Sutherland
Clarinet Sonata (1949) PERTH PREMIERE
FIRST COMMERCIAL RECORDING |
Jack Harrison (clarinet)
Stephen Dornan (piano) |
FOP Australian Composers’ Workshop
Basil Kirke Studio A.B.C. Adelaide Terrace, Perth, Western Australia RECORD: Australian Festival of Music Volume 8 |
| 30.1.1972 | John Carmichael
“A Country Fair” Orchestrated by Michael Hurst (in 1972) AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE The piece was originally written for clarinet and piano in 1963 under the title Fêtes champêtres |
Jack Harrison (clarinet)
West Australian Symphony Orchestra
Verdon Williams (conductor) |
Australia Day Free Concert, Supreme Court Gardens
Western Australia |
| 9.5.1972 | Charles Villiers Stanford
Clarinet Concerto, Op. 80. AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE |
Jack Harrison (clarinet)
Tibor Paul (conductor)
West Australian Symphony Orchestra |
Youth Concert, Winthrop Hall,
University of Western Australia |
| Feb 1973 | Benjamin Brittten
Albert Herring PERTH PREMIERE |
Georg Tintner
(conductor)
12 piece orchestra |
Festival of Perth
W.A. Opera Company
The Octagon Theatre, University of Western Australia |
| 11.11.1973 | Malcolm Arnold
Clarinet Concerto (1949) AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE |
Jack Harrison (clarinet)
David Measham (conductor)
West Australian Symphony Orchestra |
Perth Concert Hall
|
| 1973 | Poulenc
Clarinet Sonata (1963)
FIRST AUSTRALIAN RECORDING |
Jack Harrison (clarinet)
Stephen Dornan (piano) |
Recorded at the A.B.C. for the 2nd L.P. of Churchill Fellowship artists for The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust. |
| 28.9.1976 | Antoni Szalowski Sonatina for Clarinet | Jack Harrison (clarinet)
Canberra School of Music |
Churchill Fellowship Tenth Memorial Concert, Canberra |
| 16.9.1977 | Michael Hurst
(arranger) “A Mouth organ Masterpiece” |
Jack Harrison (harmonica)
West Australian Symphony Orchestra Alan Abbott (conductor) |
Family Concert, Perth Concert Hall
Western Australia
|
| 1978 | John Ireland
Fantasy for Clarinet |
Jack Harrison (clarinet)
David Bollard (piano) |
UWA free concert, Octagon Theatre
University of Western Australia |
| 22.5.1979 | Paul Hindemith
Quartet for Clarinet, Violin, Cello and Piano (1938) |
Jack Harrison (clarinet)
The Wigmore Ensemble Graham Wodd (violin) Jill Cole (cello) David bollard (piano) |
Musica Viva
Perth Concert Hall |
| 19.8.1981 | Stanford
Sonata for Clarinet and Piano Op. 129 (1911) |
Jack Harrison (clarinet)
Jay Harrison (oboe)
Michael Cole (piano) |
ABC Recital
Basil Kirke Studio |
| 10.4.1994 | Geoffrey Allen
Five Diversions for oboe, clarinet and bassoon, Mozart Divertissement No. 3 |
Jack, Jill, Jay | Churchill Fellow Concert,
WAAPA Music Auditorium Western Australia |
In 1985 his recording Harmonica and Clarinet was a released recorded by the A.B.C. with the WASO conducted by Richard Mills. It sold out and was rereleased by the A.B.C. as Moon River, this title track still broadcast many times a year.
https://www.abc.net.au/abcmusic/jack-harrison-moon-river/13951798
Another career highlight for Jack was performing in 1987 with the World Philharmonic where he met Audrey Hepburn.
Jack was invited to play as guest principal clarinet of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and was a guest artist at the opening of the Canberra School of Music.
he has been featured in many publications including “Clarinet Virtuosi of Today” by Pamela Weston.
https://archive.org/details/isbn_0905858468
Jack was awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 1971 to study advanced clarinet teaching techniques in Britain and America techniques which have produced some of Australia’s current leading clarinet players is most notable student is Allan Meyer who took over as was a Section Principal Clarinet of the WASO when Jack stepped down to bass clarinet in 1989.
Jack was married for 51 years to Marcia Chayter who wrote the history of the West Australian Symphony Orchestra Celebrating 75 Years published in 2004.
They had three children:
Jay Raymond (born 17.3.1959)
who retired from the West Australian Symphony Orchestra after 32 years playing cor anglais and oboe.
Kimberley Scott (born 23.1.1959)
, a trumpeter and Head of Music at St Mary’s Anglican Girls’ School for many years
Jody April (born 23.9.1963)
, an oboist, orchestra manager, agent for classical and jazz musicians with her company Solo to Symphony and now a genealogist, historian and writer.
