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

Michael Rodman The Ann Arbor News

“Chambers’ Come Down Heavy! …a tour de force that tested the upper sonic limits in wild and woolly playing by Timothy McAllister on alto sax…”

John Fleming St. Petersburg Times

“Friday evening, Jennifer Higdon’s lyrical Soprano Sax Concerto displayed the classical capabilities of the instrument and the musical talents of soloist Timothy McAllister. The music concentrates on song-like lines and emotional sensitivity rather than virtuosic fireworks, though McAllister’s gleaming tone and supple runs enhanced this fine work.”

Phyllis Rosenblum The Santa Cruz Sentinel

“Timothy McAllister, the saxophonist virtuoso for whom this concerto was written, performed with amazing fluency, combining crisp rhythmic energy with infectious, stylish phrasing. Jazz influences, appropriate to the instrument, are often just below the surface. Moody sections, reminiscent of a film noir score, are particularly effective. This is certainly one of the most original and successful concertos written for any instrument in recent decades.”

Rick Walters Express Milwaukee (April 2, 2014)

“Mr. Adams took inspiration from the virtuoso technique of Mr. McAllister…one of the foremost saxophonists of his generation”

William Robin The New York Times (Sept. 2013)

“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

“Timothy McAllister brings his inimitable, classical sax playing to the stunning piano playing of Liz Ames here, where both minimalism and modernism fill the Latin, jazz, funk and theater nods across these daring 14 tracks…A very unique listen that embraces abstract pop moments as well as rich moments of dramatic swells, McAllister and Ames create a highly atypical version of contemporary classical sounds that requires repeated listens.”

Take Effect (February 2023)

Pierre Jalbert

Saxophone Concerto (2024)
Pierre Jalbert (b. 1967)
I. Luna Nova
II. Speed of Light
Duration: 18 minutes

Written for Timothy McAllister and scored for solo alto saxophone, with an ensemble of orchestral winds (woodwinds and brass) plus percussion and piano. The opening movement, marked “Gently, with a sense of pulse”, explores the saxophone’s lyrical and expressive qualities as the ensemble creates slowly-changing, pulsating harmonies, over which the saxophone plays long, lyrical lines. The second movement, marked “With great energy”, contains frenetic, pulse-oriented music and features the saxophone’s virtuosic possibilities. Eventually, the ensemble gives way to the soloist’s slowly evolving cadenza. As the movement titles suggest, the music was inspired by the phases of the moon and the vastness of space. - Pierre Jalbert

Earning widespread notice for his richly colored and superbly crafted scores, Pierre Jalbert has developed a musical language that is engaging, expressive, and “immediately captures one’s attention with its strong gesture and vitality” (American Academy of Arts and Letters). Among his many honors are the Rome Prize, the BBC Masterprize, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center's Stoeger Award, given biennially “in recognition of significant contributions to the chamber music repertory.” He has drawn inspiration from a variety of sources, from plainchant melodies to the natural world. Recent album releases include his Violin Concerto (2019), String Theory (2021), and Air in Motion (2022), which features the Escher String Quartet and Carol Wincenc.
Jalbert is Professor of Music at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music in Houston, where he has taught since 1996. His music is published by Schott Music.

More information at Pierre Jalbert’s website HERE.

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