“(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)

“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)

“Paul Creston’s Saxophone Concerto (1941) runs the gamut of moods from the dramatic and lyrical to the bright and breezy, often within the same movement. Better known through its 1963 wind-band arrangement, I find the orchestral original more attractive, though Timothy McAllister would be a persuasive advocate in any format.”

Guy Rickards Gramophone Magazine (March 2024)

“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

“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.”

Musical America George Loomis (April 2025)

“Both violinist Leila Josefewicz and saxophonist Timothy McAllister gave incredible performances this evening. McAllister was the eye of a storm in his performance, delivering endless cascades of notes with Zen-like control, and acrobatic grace…Adams’ Saxophone Concerto is a solid new contribution to a genre that is undeservedly underrepresented. The star of the show was, hands down, McAllister, whose prowess portends great things to come, not just for himself, but for the presence of...

Jason Gerraughty I CARE IF YOU LISTEN (Aug 30, 2013)

“…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), Aug 2013

Vincent Ho

Whimsical Concerto of Fanciful Birds (2023)
I. Enchanted Migrations
II. Angels and Mockingbirds
III. Urban Birds

Premiered by Tim McAllister and the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra, this concerto represents the culmination of the composer’s years of writing for saxophone, namely in the series “Whimsical Sketches of Fanciful Birds, Books 1-3” for alto saxophone and piano. This series are a collection of fifteen works that explore various bird-like or bird-inspired sounds that could be created on the saxophone instrument. After writing this collection (with the possibility of more to come), the inevitable next step was to adapt many of these musical ideas into a large-scale concerto. To fully capture the spirit of the avian world Ho envisioned, it was decided to score it for solo alto saxophone, orchestra, and spatialized saxophone ensemble–a collective of saxophonists placed in various areas of the concert hall surrounding the audience (eg. loges, balconies, aisles, etc) to serve as the “flock of birds” accompanying the soloist and orchestra while creating an immersive sonic experience for the audience.

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