Timothy McAllister and Mischa Zupko – New Classical Music for Tenor and Alto Saxophone and Piano

Acclaimed saxophonist Timothy McAllister is one of today’s premier wind soloists, a member of the renowned PRISM Quartet, and a champion of contemporary music credited with over forty recordings and two hundred premières of new compositions by eminent and emerging composers worldwide. McAllister has appeared with more than forty of the world’s most prominent orchestras and ensembles in over twenty countries, and he has the distinction of being only the second saxophone soloist to appear in the 120-year history of the BBC London Proms concerts. He is featured on two GRAMMY® Award-winning recordings of the music of John Adams and Gavin Bryars on Nonesuch and ECM, respectively, and also appears on the AUR, Albany, Berlin Philharmonic Recordings, Centaur, Deutsche Grammophon, Equilibrium, Innova, Naxos, New Focus, New Dynamic, Parma, Soundset, Stradivarius, Summit, and XAS/Naxos labels. His recordings of Kenneth Fuchs’s Saxophone Concerto “Rush” with the London Symphony Orchestra and John Adams’s “City Noir” with the Berlin Philharmonic both appear

Celebrated for compositions that are emotionally-charged and viscerally-engaging, composer and pianist Mischa Zupko connects deeply with performers and audiences alike. Zupko’s piano concerto, “Fahrenheit”, was declared “a powerhouse of the evening” by Chicago Tribune’s John von Rhein and “harrowing and gripping” by Classical Voice North America. In a review of his release on Cedille Records, “Eclipse”, Bob O’Neil of Positive Feedback writes “Zupko’s chamber music leaves me uncharacteristically speechless….This music appears to have no specific roots, doesn’t seem to derive from any other composer. It simply asserts itself with force and eloquence.” Zupko has also received favorable reviews from New York Times critic Anthony Tommasini and the L.A. Times and has been featured in the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Reader for his significant compositional activity in Chicago’s new music scene. Zupko has also been featured in an interview with WWFM’s David Osenberg on his weekly radio program, “Cadenza”.

Mr. Zupko’s works have been championed, commissioned and premiered by leading United States orchestras and chamber groups including the Minnesota Orchestra, the Pacific Symphony, the New York Youth Symphony, the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble, Fulcrum Point New Music Project, American Modern Ensemble, Camerata Chicago Chamber Orchestra, the St. Olaf Band, Eighth Blackbird, Corigliano Quartet and Lincoln Trio. He has been the recipient of numerous commissions and awards including those from the Fromm Foundation and the Barlow Endowment as well as first place in the Pacific Symphony Orchestra’s ‘AMERICAN COMPOSER’S COMPETITION’. Performances of Zupko’s works have been featured at Carnegie Hall, Weill Hall, Merkin Hall and Ravinia and recordings are available on the Crystal Records, Innova, American Modern Recordings, ENF, and Cedille Records. Mr. Zupko is on faculty at DePaul University School of Music.