Timothy McAllister to Present US Premiere of John Adams's SAXOPHONE CONCERTO in Baltimore & St. Louis this Fall

By: Jul. 30, 2013
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This fall, concert saxophonist Timothy McAllister gives the first North American performances of John Adams's new Saxophone Concerto and records the 32-minute score for Nonesuch. McAllister performs with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra under Marin Alsop on Friday, September 20 (8 pm) at Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, repeated on September 21 (8 pm) and 22 (3 pm). Then, David Robertson leads McAllister and the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra in Saxophone Concerto on Saturday, October 5 (8 pm) and Sunday, October 6 (3 pm) at Powell Hall. Listeners worldwide may catch a broadcast and live stream of the Oct. 5 concert at www.stlpublicradio.org. Recording sessions with Robertson and the SLSO follow in October for a future Nonesuch recording pairing Saxophone Concerto with the orchestra's performance of Adams's City Noir, which McAllister also premiered.

The world premiere of Saxophone Concerto takes place on August 22 and 23, with Adams conducting McAllister and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra at the Sydney Opera House. It has been co-commissioned by the Baltimore, St. Louis, São Paulo State, and Sydney Symphony Orchestras.

Adams describes McAllister as "a fearless musician and risk taker," adding, "His exceptional musical personality had been the key ingredient in performances and recordings of City Noir, and I felt that I'd only begun to scratch the surface of his capabilities with that work." Adams has favored the saxophone throughout his career, infusing Nixon in China and Fearful Symmetries with its sound, and the alto sax holds special meaning for him. "Having grown up hearing the sound of the saxophone virtually every day - my father had played alto in swing bands during the 1930s and our family record collection was well stocked with albums by the great jazz masters - I never considered the saxophone an alien instrument," says the composer. "While the concerto is not meant to sound jazzy per se, its jazz influences lie only slightly below the surface."

In particular, Adams cited "some recordings from the '60s, for sax and orchestra, particularly this great album by Stan Getz called Focus." Players like Getz and alto legend Paul Desmond, whose precise yet laid-back styles epitomized the "cool" West Coast school of the '50s and '60s, are touchstones for McAllister's approach to the part, along with mid-20th century studio musicians and classical players such as Donald Sinta, McAllister's teacher and a major architect of the modern American sound.

That said, the saxophone writing in Saxophone Concerto is notably free of jazz clichés, and rich in the long-limbed, unfurling melodies characteristic of Adams's mature work. The solo part is built on flexible recurring motives, and is wildly angular and gestural. Says Adams, "I make constant use of the instrument's vaunted agility as well as its capacity for a lyrical utterance that is only a short step away from the human voice."

McAllister, to whom Adams dedicated the concerto, notes that the solo part contains few of "the stereotypical pyrotechnics that have dominated avant-garde saxophone repertoire since the 1970s, such as multiphonics, extreme altissimo, and percussive slap tongue effects, among other extended techniques. Its true virtuosity involves navigating a complex range of characters from section to section, and the ability to command a wide intervallic palette. In many instances, however, the technique of circular breathing is a necessity to tackle the huge, sustained lines throughout. Moreover, the scope of the piece, some 32 minutes long, makes for a physically demanding work - in my opinion, perhaps the most important composition for saxophone in a generation, and certainly, in this young century."

The form of Saxophone Concerto "is a familiar one for those who know my orchestral pieces," observes Adams. "I've used it in my Violin Concerto, in City Noir and in my piano concerto Century Rolls. It begins with one long first part combining a fast movement with a slow, lyrical one. This is followed by a shorter second part, a species of funk-rondo with a fast, driving pulse." Adams's full program note for the work can be found at http://www.boosey.com/cr/music/John-Adams-Saxophone-Concerto/58118.

McAllister will perform Saxophone Concerto with the São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra under Marin Alsop in São Paulo on August 14 - 16, 2014. The orchestra is planning tour performances with McAllister and Alsop to seven Brazilian cities.


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