Michael Colgrass, Composer, Writer and NLP Teacher

Biography

Compositions

Recordings

Comment and Concert Reviews

Conversation
New and Recent

MICHAEL COLGRASS (Chicago l932)

Michael Colgrass (b. 1932) began his musical career in Chicago where his first professional experiences were as a jazz drummer (1944-49).
He graduated from the University of Illinois in 1954 with a degree in performance and composition and his studies included training with Darius Milhaud at the Aspen Festival and Lukas Foss at Tanglewood.
He served two years as timpanist in the Seventh Army Symphony Orchestra in Stuttgart, Germany and then spent eleven years supporting his composing activities as a free-lance percussionist in New York City.

His wide-ranging performance venues then included such varied groups as the New York Philharmonic, The Met, Dizzy Gillespie, the Modern Jazz Quartet, the original West Side Story orchestra on Broadway, the Columbia Recording Orchestra’s Stravinsky Conducts Stravinsky series, and numerous ballet, opera and jazz ensembles.
He organized the percussion sections for Gunther Schuller’s recordings and concerts, as well as for recordings and premieres of new works by John Cage, Elliott Carter, Edgard Varese, and Harry Partch. During this New York period he continued to study composition with Wallingford Riegger (1958) and Ben Weber (1958-60).
Colgrass has received commissions from the New York Philharmonic and The Boston Symphony (twice). Also the orchestras of Minnesota, Detroit, San Francisco, St.Louis, Pittsburgh, Washington, Toronto (twice), the National Arts Centre Orchestra (twice), The Canadian Broadcast Corporation, The Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society, the Manhattan and Muir String Quartets, The Brighton Festival in England, The Fromm and Ford Foundations, The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and numerous other orchestras, chamber groups, choral groups and soloists.
He won the 1978 Pulitzer Prize for Music for Déjà vu, which was commissioned and premiered by the New York Philharmonic. In addition, he received an Emmy Award in 1982 for a PBS documentary “Soundings: The Music of Michael Colgrass.” He has been awarded two Guggenheim Fellowships, A Rockefeller Grant, First Prize in the Barlow and Sudler International Wind Ensemble Competitions, and the 1988 Jules Leger Prize for Chamber Music.
Among recent works are Crossworlds (2002) for flute piano and orchestra commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra and premiered with soloists Marina Piccinini and Andreas Heafliger.
In 2003 he conducted the premiere of his new chamber orchestra version of the Bach-Goldberg Variations with members of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Most recent premieres are Bali (2005), Raag Mala (2006) for wind ensemble, and Side by Side (2007) for harpsichord, altered piano (one player) and orchestra, commissioned by the Esprit Orchestra, The Boston Modern Orchestra Project and The Richmond Symphony featuring soloist Joanne Kong. The Toronto premiere took place on 13 May 2007 under conductor Alex Pauk.
Recently, he devised a system of teaching music creativity to children which he has taught to middle and high school music teachers who have used his techniques to teach children to write and perform new music of their own. His articles on these activities have appeared in the Music Educators Journal (September 2004) and Adultita, an Italian education magazine. He has also written a number of works for children to perform.
As an author, Colgrass wrote, My Lessons with Kumi, a narrative/exercise book, outlining his techniques for performance and creativity. He also gives workshops throughout the world on the psychology and technique of performance.
He lives in Toronto and makes his living internationally as a composer. His wife, Ulla, is a journalist and editor who writes about music and the arts, and his son Neal is an editor, journalist and screenwriter.

For more information see: www.michaelcolgrass.com

Home Go to Top of Page

Biography
Compositions Recordings Comment and Concert Reviews Conversation New and Recent		MICHAEL COLGRASS (Chicago l932) Michael Colgrass (b. 1932) began his musical career in Chicago where his first professional experiences were as a jazz drummer (1944-49). He graduated from the University of Illinois in 1954 with a degree in performance and composition and his studies included training with Darius Milhaud at the Aspen Festival and Lukas Foss at Tanglewood. He served two years as timpanist in the Seventh Army Symphony Orchestra in Stuttgart, Germany and then spent eleven years supporting his composing activities as a free-lance percussionist in New York City.
		His wide-ranging performance venues then included such varied groups as the New York Philharmonic, The Met, Dizzy Gillespie, the Modern Jazz Quartet, the original West Side Story orchestra on Broadway, the Columbia Recording Orchestra’s Stravinsky Conducts Stravinsky series, and numerous ballet, opera and jazz ensembles. He organized the percussion sections for Gunther Schuller’s recordings and concerts, as well as for recordings and premieres of new works by John Cage, Elliott Carter, Edgard Varese, and Harry Partch. During this New York period he continued to study composition with Wallingford Riegger (1958) and Ben Weber (1958-60). Colgrass has received commissions from the New York Philharmonic and The Boston Symphony (twice). Also the orchestras of Minnesota, Detroit, San Francisco, St.Louis, Pittsburgh, Washington, Toronto (twice), the National Arts Centre Orchestra (twice), The Canadian Broadcast Corporation, The Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society, the Manhattan and Muir String Quartets, The Brighton Festival in England, The Fromm and Ford Foundations, The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and numerous other orchestras, chamber groups, choral groups and soloists. He won the 1978 Pulitzer Prize for Music for Déjà vu, which was commissioned and premiered by the New York Philharmonic. In addition, he received an Emmy Award in 1982 for a PBS documentary “Soundings: The Music of Michael Colgrass.” He has been awarded two Guggenheim Fellowships, A Rockefeller Grant, First Prize in the Barlow and Sudler International Wind Ensemble Competitions, and the 1988 Jules Leger Prize for Chamber Music. Among recent works are Crossworlds (2002) for flute piano and orchestra commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra and premiered with soloists Marina Piccinini and Andreas Heafliger. In 2003 he conducted the premiere of his new chamber orchestra version of the Bach-Goldberg Variations with members of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Most recent premieres are Bali (2005), Raag Mala (2006) for wind ensemble, and Side by Side (2007) for harpsichord, altered piano (one player) and orchestra, commissioned by the Esprit Orchestra, The Boston Modern Orchestra Project and The Richmond Symphony featuring soloist Joanne Kong. The Toronto premiere took place on 13 May 2007 under conductor Alex Pauk. Recently, he devised a system of teaching music creativity to children which he has taught to middle and high school music teachers who have used his techniques to teach children to write and perform new music of their own. His articles on these activities have appeared in the Music Educators Journal (September 2004) and Adultita, an Italian education magazine. He has also written a number of works for children to perform. As an author, Colgrass wrote, My Lessons with Kumi, a narrative/exercise book, outlining his techniques for performance and creativity. He also gives workshops throughout the world on the psychology and technique of performance. He lives in Toronto and makes his living internationally as a composer. His wife, Ulla, is a journalist and editor who writes about music and the arts, and his son Neal is an editor, journalist and screenwriter. For more information see: www.michaelcolgrass.com
Home		Go to Top of Page