“John Adams’ new concerto has an appealing blend of bright colours and astringency. Saxophonist Timothy McAllister was the outstanding soloist, channelling Stan Getz in the smooth lyrical passages. In the relentless, bebop-like figurations - stunningly executed - it recalled the frenetic solos of Charlie Parker, Cannonball Adderley and John Coltrane”

Murray Black The Australian, Aug 2013

“Timothy McAllister is both an agile soloist, easily surmounting any technical hurdles, and an expressive, communicative musician able to plumb the depths or scale the heights of these contemporary composers’ inspirations. His fellow musicians are equally accomplished; these renditions are finely honed collaborations between talented peers.”

R. Schulslaper FANFARE Magazine

“Adams, a long-standing jazz fan, writes expertly for the instrument. And the soloist Timothy McAllister makes an excellent advocate…we hear plenty of seductive sounds, with subtle echoes of composers including Debussy and Holst. The effect is atmospheric, and it’s hard not to be carried along by the work’s vigour, fearlessly embraced by McAllister and the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Marin Alsop.”

Hannah Nepil Financial Times (UK) (9/7/14)

“I have great admiration for your great talent…I have been very impressed by your masterful technique, by the simplicity of your playing, by your musical intelligence, by the perfect presentation…”

Jean-Marie Londeix Legendary Saxophonist, Conservatoire National de Bourdeaux

“He gave the piece the knockout performance it deserved…[McAllister] gave a fluent demonstration of what his instrument –all his instruments–can do. He tore his way nimbly through intricate passagework, shaped lyrical melodies with the grace of an opera singer, and gave the piece all the theatrical panache it wanted.”

J.Kosman [John Corigliano's 'Triathlon' - world premiere with the San Francisco Symphony] San Francisco Chronicle

[“SLSO fires on all cylinders with creative concert featuring ‘Bolero’”]
On Connesson’s ‘A Kind of Trane’: “Much of it sounded like dazzling improvisation…complete mastery of every nuance of phrase and melody”

John Huxhold St. Louis Post-Dispatch (3/6/20)

“No doubt this disc will be much studied and admired by saxophonists and certainly deserves hearing among a still wider audience…remarkably good and thought provoking”

Robert McColley Fanfare Magazine - Review of Visions

James Lee III

A new concerto dedicated to Timothy McAllister for alto saxophone and orchestra from James Lee III is coming for the 25/26 season! ABIDING LEGACY pays tribute to the African-American astronaut/saxophonist Ron McNair and commemorates the 40th Anniversary of the Challenger tragedy in 2026. McAllister, a Houston Bay Area native and son of NASA-affiliated employees, was a beginning saxophonist at the time of the space shuttle disaster which left him forever inspired by McNair’s life and those of his peers who the world lost that fateful day.

The 24-minute work for full symphony orchestra is fully commissioned through a gift from the Gail Straith Fund at the University of Michigan and is available for first performances and recording. Contact Martha Woods (info below).

Abiding Legacy: Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Orchestra (2025) - 24’
I. Resilience
II. Remembered among the stars…
III. Resolute Dream
(Pub. Subito Music Publishing, ASCAP)

Booking Information

Martha Woods
President
Jonathan Wentworth Associates Ltd.
6118 40th Avenue
Hyattsville, Maryland 20782-3012