Timothy McAllister (born October 21, 1972) is an American classical saxophonist and music educator, who, as of 2014, is Professor of Saxophone at the

University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance The School of Music, Theatre, and Dance (SMTD) is the undergraduate and graduate school for the performing arts of the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. The school was founded in 1880 as the Ann Arbor School of Music ...

Career

Born in 1972, he gave his solo debut at age 16 with the Houston Civic Symphony. As a teenager he attended the

Interlochen Center for the Arts Interlochen Center for the Arts ( '; also known as I.C.A. or Inty) is a Nonprofit organization, non-profit corporation which operates Visual arts education, arts education institutions and Music venue, performance venues. Established in 1928 b ...

, where he studied with John Sampen. McAllister studied saxophone with Donald Sinta and conducting with H. Robert Reynolds at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

. He holds a Bachelor of Music (1995), the Albert A. Stanley Medal (1995), Masters of Music (1997), and a Doctor of Musical Arts (2002). As of 2014, McAllister has been Professor of Saxophone at the

, a role held previously by Donald Sinta and Larry Teal. Each summer he teaches saxophone at Interlochen, the MPulse Saxophone Institute, Arosa Music Course in Switzerland, and the Orford Music Academy in Canada. From 2012 to 2014, McAllister was Co-Director of the Institute for New Music and saxophone professor at the

Bienen School of Music The Bienen School of Music (formally the Henry and Leigh Bienen School of Music) is the music and performance arts school of Northwestern University. It is located on Northwestern University's campus in Evanston, Illinois, United States. The s ...

at Northwestern. He has premiered over 250 new works by composers including: Gunther Schuller, Caleb Burhans,

Jennifer Higdon Jennifer Elaine Higdon (born December 31, 1962) is an American composer of contemporary classical music. She has received many awards, including the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Music for her Violin Concerto and three Grammy Awards for Best Contemp ...

, Benjamin Broening, Kati Agocs, Mischa Zupko, Gregory Wanamaker, Roshanne Etezady, Kristin Kuster, William Bolcom, Martin Bresnick, Steven Mackey, Lee Hyla,

Libby Larsen Elizabeth Brown Larsen (born December 24, 1950) is a contemporary American classical composer. Along with composer Stephen Paulus, she is a co-founder of the Minnesota Composers Forum, now the American Composers Forum. A former holder of the Pa ...

, Lei Liang, John Harbison, David Rakowski, Zhou Long, Chen Yi, Joel Puckett, Brian Fennelly, Evan Chambers, Ken Ueno,

Donnacha Dennehy Donnacha Dennehy (born 17 August 1970) is an Irish composer and leader of the Crash Ensemble specializing in contemporary classical music. According to musicologist Bob Gilmore, Dennehy's "high profile of his compositions internationally, togeth ...

, David T. Little. His recording of

William Bolcom William Elden Bolcom (born May 26, 1938) is an American composer and pianist. He has received the Pulitzer Prize, the National Medal of Arts, a Grammy Award, the Detroit Music Award and was named 2007 Composer of the Year by Musical America. He ...

’s Concert Suite for Alto Saxophone and Band was nominated for multiple Grammy Awards. In 2013, he premiered Saxophone Concerto dedicated to him by the composer

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before Presidency of John Adams, his presidency, he was a leader of ...

with the

Sydney Symphony Orchestra The Sydney Symphony Orchestra (SSO) is an Australian symphony orchestra based in Sydney. With roots going back to 1908, the orchestra was made a permanent professional orchestra on the formation of the Australian Broadcasting Commission in 1932. ...

at the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue Performing arts center, performing arts centre in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive b ...

. The premiere was conducted by the composer. This concerto was a joint commission by St Louis, Baltimore and Sydney Symphony Orchestras and Fundacao Orquestra Sinfonica do estado de Sao Paulo. McAllister had previously given the World Premiere of Adams’ ‘City Noir’ in 2009. He is featured as the saxophone soloist on ‘City Noir’ (album) which won the 2014 Grammy Award for Best Orchestral Performance. He is the

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

chair of the PRISM Saxophone Quartet. He also regularly performs with the

Chicago Symphony Orchestra The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891, the ensemble has been based in the Symphony Center since 1904 and plays a summer season at the Ravinia F ...

, the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra, and the

Los Angeles Philharmonic The Los Angeles Philharmonic (LA Phil) is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. The orchestra holds a regular concert season from October until June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall and a summer season at the Hollywood Bowl from ...

. He appears on over 50 albums as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral saxophonist.

Selected discography

*''The Inaugural Concert: Gustavo Dudamel'' DVD (LA Philharmonic) 2009,

Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...

*''Concerto for Soprano Saxophone and Wind Ensemble, by John Mackey'' (ASU Wind Symphony) 2012, Tresona Multimedia *''John Cage'' (Simone Mancuso, percussion; including McAllister’s version of “Ryoanji”) 2012,

Stradivarius A Stradivarius is one of the string instruments, such as violins, violas, cellos, and guitars, crafted by members of the Stradivari family, particularly Antonio Stradivari (Latin: Antonius Stradivarius), in Cremona, Italy, during the late 17th ...

*''The Singing Gobi Desert'' (Prism Quartet) 2013 *''John Adams: City Noir; Saxophone Concerto'' (St. Louis Symphony Orchestra) 2014,

Nonesuch Records Nonesuch Records is an American record company and label owned by Warner Music Group, distributed by Warner Records (formerly Warner Bros. Records), and based in New York City. Founded by Jac Holzman in 1964 as a budget classical label, Nonesuch ...

(2015 GRAMMY winner) *''Music of Matthew Levy'' (Prism Quartet) 2014 *''Heritage/Evolution'' (Prism Quartet) 2014 *''Belle Nuit'' (Kathryn Goodson, piano) 2015, Navona Records *''Zae Munn: They were mysterious guests'' (Lucia Unrau, Piano and others) 2015, Navona Records *''

The Fifth Century ''The Fifth Century'' is a classical and choral studio album by Gavin Bryars, conducted by Donald Nally, and performed by The Crossing choir with the saxophone quartet PRISM. This album was released in the label ECM New Series in November 2016. ...

'' (Gavin Bryars, The Crossing and Prism Quartet) 2016,

ECM New Series ECM (Edition of Contemporary Music) is an independent record label founded by Karl Egger, Manfred Eicher and Manfred Scheffner in Munich in 1969. While ECM is best known for jazz music, the label has released a variety of recordings, and ECM's ar ...

(2017 GRAMMY winner) *''Spiritualist: Kenneth Fuchs'' (includes Saxophone Concerto “Rush”) (London Symphony Orchestra) 2018,

Naxos Naxos (; , ) is a Greek island belonging to the Cyclades island group. It is the largest island in the group. It was an important centre during the Bronze Age Cycladic Culture and in the Ancient Greek Archaic Period. The island is famous as ...

(2019 GRAMMY winner) *''Lost Horizon: Guillaume Connesson'' (includes ‘A Kind of Trane’ Concerto) (Brussels Philharmonic) 2019, Deutsche Grammophon *''Animal, Vegetable, Mineral'' (Prism Quartet) 2019, XAS Records *''Surfaces and Essences'' (Prism Quartet) 2020, XAS Records *''Westland: Andy Scott'' (Liz Ames, Piano) 2020, Naxos *''Notturno'' (Liz Ames, Piano) 2020, XAS Records

References

External links

Official Site

Prism Saxophone Quartet

University of Michigan faculty biography

Interview transcript

Interview on Saxophone Concerto
{{DEFAULTSORT:McAllister, Timothy American male saxophonists Classical saxophonists Living people University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance alumni University of Michigan faculty 21st-century American saxophonists 21st-century American male musicians 1972 births