“a fearless musician and risk taker…a one-of-a-kind artist the way Yo-Yo Ma is”
John Adams
Pulitzer Prize Laureate and Grammy-winning composer
“McAllister is at the center of what’s probably the most mainstream classical saxophone disc of the decade - John Adams’ City Noir and Saxophone Concerto on Nonesuch”
David Patrick Stearns
The Philadelphia Inquirer (April 2014)
“McAllister was phenomenal, giving a dazzling performance that rocked the audience to its feet for a prolonged and well-deserved ovation”
Sarah Bryan Miller
St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Oct 2013)
“Adams imparts a lighter touch to the orchestration to support the solo alto saxophone’s sinewy lines, played with wondrous dexterity by Timothy McAllister”
Pwyll ap Sion
GRAMOPHONE Magazine (Aug. 2014)
“A tremendous saxophonist, McAllister played with great strength, bright tone, and excellent intonation—including the altissimo register—on all his horns…in the end Corigliano’s ‘Triathlon’ brought the house down in cheers for soloist, orchestra, and composer.”
George Grella
New York Classical Review (6/5/22)
“McAllister was the tirelessly virtuosic soloist, playing with rhythmic drive and confident swagger…”
Hugo Shirley
The Telegraph (UK) (9/5/14)
“a titan of contemporary music and the instrument in general”
Zachary Lewis
The Plain Dealer, Cleveland (10/7/14)
“World-renowned saxophonist Timothy McAllister’s brilliant, crowd-pleasing performance was equal parts rock-star swagger and supremely polished musicianship”
Leonidas Lagrimas
The Buffalo News (12/8/2019)
“fantastic virtuosity and lyric beauty”
John Corigliano
Pulitzer Prize Laureate, Grammy, and Oscar-winning composer
“the concerto’s high point allows Corigliano’s celebrated gift for melody to shine. McAllister’s beautiful playing here lingers in the mind more than the work’s virtuosic moments, dazzlingly rendered though they were.”
The collected works on the acclaimed duo’s second volume of show-stopping encore commissions features Wynton Marsalis, Adam Silverman, Ephraim Champion, Adam Schoenberg, Rob Buckland, Jennifer Higdon, Chihchun Chi-sun Lee, Andrew Bishop, Ellen Rowe, Joel Puckett, John Christopher Wineglass, Justin H. Bush, Iman Habibi, Lembit Beecher, Catherine Likhuta, Sean Hickey, and...
Chicago, IL–
In conjunction with the prestigious Cedille Records label under the leadership of the intrepid Jim Ginsburg, Timothy McAllister is recording an anthology album of the music of Chicago-based composer Mischa Zupko , which highlights the composer at the piano alongside award-winning Chicago ensembles ~Nois and Civitas Ensemble.
Read the Cedille Records feature on the project, “Read more
Now spanning two recorded sets, Volume 2 (Neuma 235) by Timothy McAllister and Liz Ames (the Ann Arbor-based duo’s fifth album since 2020) adds to the 14 works on Volume 1 (Neuma 165, 2022).
Highlights include among the 17 new compositions:
• Wynton Marsalis – A rare chamber work from the Pulitzer- and GRAMMY®-winning icon
• Jennifer Higdon – A Fine Line, a melodic gem from the celebrated Pulitzer laureate
• John Wineglass – Wild Rhapsody!, a joyful piece by the...
MAY 6, 2024 - Commissioned by the Lucerne Festival and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra with support from New Music USA, Tyshawn Sorey’s alto saxophone concerto “Adagio (For Wadada Leo Smith)” featuring soloist and dedicatee Timothy McAllister has been awarded the 2024 Pulitzer Prize in Music. This represents a milestone on many levels, but, quite notably, this is the first instance a composition for classical saxophone has received this distinction.
Ann Arbor, Michigan - The New York Philharmonic released its 2024-2025 Season on 3/19/24 which includes Tim McAllister’s debut with the orchestra, and the New York City premiere performances of John Corigliano’s saxophone concerto, TRIATHLON! The concerts (March 26, 27 & 29), led by the eminent Leonard Slatkin, also features music of Cindy McTee and Shostakovich. More information found HERE.
New Album Releases on the way!
Coming in November 2023, Naxos artist and Music Director of the Buffalo Philharmonic JoAnn Falletta will release a series of rarely heard American works with the National Orchestral Institute Philharmonic. Recorded at the NOI Festival in 2022, the album features Paul Creston’s Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Orchestra. Often performed in its version for wind band, this recording documents the iconic saxophone work in its original orchestral...
Dedicated to Timothy McAllister and commissioned through a generous gift by Gail Straith and the Michigan Orchestra Repertoire for Equity (MORE) Fund, this new concerto by acclaimed composer Adolphus Hailstork receives its World Premiere in Ann Arbor on February 2, 2025 with the University Symphony Orchestra under Kenneth Kiesler and its co-premiere and recording for NAXOS under JoAnn Falletta and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra on May 30, 2025. Subsequent performances include its...
Timothy McAllister has signed with one of the most respected firms for world-class fine arts music programming, Jonathan Wentworth Associates, Ltd., which represents award-winning soloists, chamber ensembles, conductors and special projects. He joins a roster filled with leading names in the classical industry including guitarist Jason Vieaux, the Fry Street Quartet, violinist Mark Kaplan, conductor Michael Butterman, pianist Christopher Taylor,...