“…McAllister performed solos crucial to the work’s flavor with brashness that never overpowered a beautifully rounded tone.”

Michael Rodman The Ann Arbor News

“…the world premiere of his new saxophone concerto was, therefore, a very special moment indeed. John Adams’ saxophone concerto is written for classical saxophonist Timothy McAllister. He gave an astonishing performance. Adams has thrown down the gauntlet with a solo line which demands speed, flexibility, musicality and, above all, stamina to keep going with barely a bar’s rest. McAllister delivered, punching out the “nervous bebop” sound (Adams’ description) with manic intensity, like a...

Harriet Cunningham The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia)

“…energetic and captivating…McAllister danced Hailstork’s exuberant folk-inspired rhythms and motifs into existence, with the orchestra keeping pace through every virtuosic tutti section.”

Forrest Howell I Care If You Listen (8/15/25)

“(John) Adams goes for more than stylizations with [City Noir’s] wily jazz spine. Keeping a sweaty, smoky after-hours jam percolating were Timothy McAllister’s volcanic sax…”

Lewis Whittington American Record Guide (Sept/Oct 2010)

“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

“Certainly this is a virtuosic piece, designed to test the limits of the soloist for whom it was written, Tim McAllister, who showed his technical chops and his expressive musicianship with a piece that had his instrument now noodling thoughtfully, now dashing in crazy, frenetic runs up and down the scale…”

Anne Midgette Washington Post (Sept 2013)

“his fingers looked like a troupe of spiders racing over his saxophone, top to bottom, all at once, searching for perfect fingerings to play explosive music with expressive purity of tone…taut, precise, and (dare I say?) sexy performance of Adams’s challenging asymmetries…”

Christopher Hill EarRelevant

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