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Colorado College Department

presents Wisdom in

A spiritual, musical and danceable message of classical and contemporary folklore-based works by Messiaen Ensemble

Gideon Gee-Bum Kim, artistic director/conductor Peter Pinteric, clarinet Jihye Joelle Kee, violin Hee Yeon Kim, cello Matthew Ming Li,

with guests

Paul Nagem, flute Collin McAllister, guitar

February 21, 2015 3:00 pm Packard Hall Yesusum, Yesusum! (The Desert Shall Rejoice!) Ofer Ben-Amots (b. 1955)

Alborada del Gracioso (Aubade of the Jester) (1875-1937)

Regard de l'Esprit de joie (Gaze of the joyful Spirit) Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992)

Improvisations on an English Folk Tune David Crumb (b. 1962)

Intermission

You Raise Me Up Gideon Gee-Bum Kim

Five Ancient Dances Ofer Ben-Amots

9 Haiku Michael Fiday (b. 1961)

From Darkness to Light Ofer Ben-Amots 3rd Movement out of Concertino

Kindly silence all electronic devices during the performance

Program Notes

Yesusum, Yesusum! (The Desert Shall Rejoice!) is a new rendition of an old Israeli Folk tune by the great David Zehavi. The text is taken from the Book of Prophet Isaiah. The prophetic verses depict a blooming desert and a blossoming wilderness. The fulfillment of this prophecy has been witnessed with the miraculous agricultural life in Israel’s southern desert, the Negev. The current musical arrangement for flute, clarinet, violin and cello is Gideon Gee-Bum Kim’s instrumentation of Ofer Ben-Amots’ arrangement for mixed chorus a cappella or with piano (or organ) accompaniment.

The wilderness and the parched land shall be glad, and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose,

For in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.

Isaiah, Chap. 35, Vers. 1, 6

~

Maurice Ravel was born in the French Pyrenees near the border of Spain. His mother was of Basque origin and was raised in Madrid. The Spanish influence of the composer’s mother is prominent throughout Ravel’s compositions. In 1905, Ravel wrote a set of five piano pieces named Miroirs. The fourth piece of the set, Alborada del Gracioso, is among the first compositions where Ravel experimented with Spanish elements. This piece became so immensely popular that in 1918, Ravel transcribed it (along with one other from the same set) for full .

To pianists, Alborada del Gracioso is notorious for the extremely fast repeated notes, where Ravel gave specific instructions to never slow down to compensate for the difficulty. The double-note glissando passages in the final section of the piece can easily injure pianists’ fingers, especially under unresponsive or ones with sharp key edges. The title itself does not reveal much about the character of the piece, save for the word “Alborada”, which refers to morning music (opposite to “serenade” for evening music). Little bursts of fast triplets among steady eighth notes permeate the piece, imitating the sound of a Spanish castanet player. The seven-minute piece is set in three sections; the two lively outer sections that share the same theme and rhythmic motives and a deeply expressive and melancholic middle section in the middle. The style of the middle section is inspired from “Cante jondo”, a vocalized type of flamenco music typical from the Andalucía region. The return of the opening theme is followed by a festive explosion of pipes, horns and drums that wraps up a rather boisterous dance of clowns.

Regard de l'Esprit de joie (Gaze of the joyful Spirit)

Violent dance, wild tone of the horns, rapture of the Holy Spirit…the joy of love of the blessed God in the soul of Jesus Christ…I have always been struck by the fact that God is happy, and that an unutterable and perpetual joy lives in the Soul of Christ. Joy, which for me is ecstasy, an intoxicant in the most extravagant sense of the word.” ~Olivier Messiaen

One of the most important and influential composers of the 20th century, the French composer Olivier Messiaen is probably best known for his chamber work, Quartet for the End of Time, which was written during World War II when he was made prisoner of war during the capitulation of France in 1940. The piano cycle 20 Regards sur l’Enfant Jésus was written in 1943, two years after his release from prison and his appointment at the Paris Conservatoire. It is an enormous set that lasts around two hours when performed as a whole. The cycle is based on meditations on the Nativity, and unifying themes and rhythmic motives are used throughout the entire set. Regard de l’Esprit de joie is the tenth piece of the set and one of the most technically demanding. The piece centers on the “theme of joy”, an ascending scale- like motive in the mixolydian mode. The opening is a heavy dance in the low bass. “Theme of joy” arrives the first time after the dance section with a ghostly development that Messiaen calls “asymmetrical growth”. Violent, horn-like calls dominate the next section and grow in magnitude and complexity within three variations before the music peaks at the second statement of “theme of joy” and the second development section that uses “theme of God” that occurred in earlier pieces of the set. The wild dance returns in double notes in the right hand and builds into the Coda, the third and final statement of joy.

Improvisations on an English Folk Tune [2004]: The melody that I use as the basis for this cycle of nine improvisations, known as Scarborough Fair, is from an anonymous English folk that dates back to late medieval times. As a child, I first heard the tune in a popularized arrangement sung by Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel (from the 1966 Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme). This simple yet melancholy Dorian melody exhibits an exquisitely balanced phrase structure that ultimately allows for a variety of potential harmonizations, many of which I explore throughout the composition.

Improvisations on an English Folk Tune was commissioned in 2003 by the Barlow Endowment for Music Composition at Brigham Young University, and premiered by the Third Angle New Music Ensemble in January 2005. ~David Crumb

You Raise Me Up

When I am down and, oh my soul, so weary; When troubles come and my heart burdened be; Then, I am still and wait here in the silence, Until you come and sit awhile with me.

There is no life – no life without its hunger; Each restless heart beats so imperfectly; But when you come and I am filled with wonder, Sometimes, I think I glimpse eternity.

Refrain: You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains; You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas; I am strong, when I am on your shoulders; You raise me up… To more than I can be.

You Raise Me Up was composed by Rolf Løvland and based on the traditional Irish tune, Danny Boy which was then based on the tune of Derry Air. Løvland approached Brendan Graham, who was a veteran , and created the for the tune. This song complements the theme of the inauguration of the Toronto Messiaen Ensemble, “Adversity and Transfiguration”. Gideon Gee-Bum Kim arranged this piece for violin, clarinet, cello and piano in a unique way. The piece starts with solo clarinet that captures the overtones through playing inside the piano. It also adopts two Contemporary Church Music (CCM) , Let us pray together by Korean CCM writer, Hyeongwon Ko and You are my all in all by Dennis Jernigan, an American CCM composer. Jernigan has inspired Kim by his belief, “If you lead people to freedom, they WILL worship.” These melodies are juxtaposed spontaneously with the theme of “You raise me up” which is constant in the piano. ~GK

Five Ancient Dances is a suite of five character pieces for viola and piano. The piece is one of my earliest compositions, from my student days at the Detmold Music Academy in Germany. It was originally written for clarinet and piano in 1983, but was later revised twice (1996, 2005) and a viola version was added. The music is influenced by Jewish and Israeli folk music, though other east- Mediterranean styles also make an appearance. The second movement, for instance, is based on the Bedouin "Debka" dance, in which a melody is repeated several times at increasing speed and energy, then returns to its original state. The last movement shows Balkan and even Klezmer influence. This work was among my early attempts to combine folk elements within art and concert music. ~Ben-Amots

9 Haiku are a set of varied musical reflections on texts by Basho. Haiku pose a paradox in terms of scope, their concise forms revealing an entire world within. In keeping with this, some of the reflections are as long as 3 minutes, others barely 30 seconds. I chose the texts, then arranged them in a specific order based on subject (birds, moon, bells), framing them by two outer texts suggesting the beginning and end of a life journey. The first setting does make use of an actual rice planting song (Ta-ue-uta), which recurs from time to time. The last haiku is significant in that it is Basho’s “death poem” – the last haiku he ever wrote. 9 Haiku was originally composed for Eleonore Pameijier and Marcel Worms as part of their ‘6 Continents Project’. ~MF

1 The beginning of art – a rice-planting song in the backcountry 2 Midfield, attached to nothing, the skylark . 3 Harvest moon – walking around the pond all night long. 4 As the sound fades, the scent of the flowers comes up – the evening bell. 5 Lightning– and in the dark the screech of a night heron. 6 Where's the moon? As the temple bell is– 7 Sunk in the sea Clouds come from time to time– and bring to men a chance to rest from looking at the 8 moon. My eyes following until the bird was lost at sea 9 found a small island. Sick on a journey, my dreams wander the withered fields.

Matsuo Basho Translations: Robert Hass

From Darkness to Light for clarinet, mandolin, and chamber orchestra is a re-orchestration of my Concertino. The composition for clarinet, mandolin and orchestra was originally commissioned by the Geneva Chamber Orchestra in 2011, and was premiered by the same orchestra in Geneva, Switzerland in January 2012. Later, in 2013, the work became part of a mega-collaborative performance project titled “A journey of the Human Spirit.” The composition explores the sound combination of two, seemingly opposing, instruments and sound characters: the clarinet and the mandolin. Thus, the three-movement work is a short double-concerto for clarinet and mandolin, accompanied by a chamber orchestra. The third and final movement, Bulgar, Allegro con brio, is a festive klezmer dance with a traditional Bulgar (or Freylech) rhythm, where the regular 8/8 meter is constantly divided into the irregular count of 3+3+2. In the middle of this movement the two soloists play a , which allows them to present their virtuosity in a contrasting yet complementary instrumental character.

~Ben-Amots Meet the Artists

Born in Haifa, Israel, in 1955, composer OFER BEN-AMOTS gave his first piano concert at age nine and at age sixteen was awarded first prize in the Chet Piano Competition. Later, following composition studies with Joseph Dorfman at Tel Aviv University, he was invited to study at the Conservatoire de Musique in Geneva, Switzerland. There he studied with Pierre Wismer and privately with Alberto Ginastera. Ben-Amots is an alumnus of the Hochschule für Musik in Detmold, Germany, where he studied with Martin C. Redel and Dietrich Manicke and graduated with degrees in composition, , and piano. Upon his arrival in the United States in 1987, Ben- Amots studied with George Crumb at the University of Pennsylvania where he received his Ph.D. in music composition.

Currently on the faculty of Colorado College, Ofer Ben-Amots’ compositions are performed regularly in concert halls and festivals Worldwide. His music has been performed by such as the Munich Philharmonic, ÖRF - Austrian Radio Orchestra, Bruckner Orchestra, Zürich Philharmonic, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Moscow Camerata, Heidelberg, Erfurt, Brandenburg, the Filarmonici di Sicili, the Concerto Soloists of Philadelphia, Milan Chamber Orchestra, Portland Chamber Orchestra, and the Colorado Springs Symphony among others. His compositions have been professionally recorded by the Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig, the Munich Chamber Orchestra, the Barcelona Symphony, the BBC Singers, and the renowned Czech Permonik. Ben-Amots has received commissions and grants from the MacArthur Foundation, Fulbright Foundation, Maurice Amado Foundation, Schleswig-Holstein , Fuji International Music Festival in Japan, Delta Ensemble from Amsterdam, Assisi Musiche Festival, and many others.

Ofer Ben-Amots is the winner of the 1994 Vienna International Competition for Composers. His chamber opera, Fool’s Paradise, was premiered in Vienna during the 1994 festival Wien Modern and subsequently became part of the 1994/95 season of Opernhaus Zürich. He is recipient of the 1988 Kavannagh Prize for his composition Fanfare for Orchestra and the Gold Award at South Africa’s 1993 Roodepoort International Competition for Choral Composition. His Avis Urbanus for amplified flute was awarded First Prize at the 1991 Kobe International Competition for Flute Composition in Japan, and was a required composition at the 1993 Kobe Flute Performance Competition. In 1999, Ben-Amots was awarded the Aaron Copland Award and the Music Composition Artist Fellowship by the Colorado Council on the Arts. In 2004 he won the Festiladino, an international contest for Judeo- Spanish songs, a part of the Israel Festival in Jerusalem. Dr. Ben-Amots is a member of the Advisory Board and the Editorial Board of the Milken Foundation American-Jewish Music Archive. In addition, he is a Jerusalem Fellow of the Center for Jewish Culture and Creativity and its Artistic Director for North America since 1997.

Ofer Ben-Amots’ works have been repeatedly recognized for their emotional and highly personal expression. The interweaving of folk elements with contemporary textures, along with his unique imaginative orchestration, creates the haunting dynamic tension that permeates and defines Dr. Ben-Amots’ musical language. His music has been published by Baerenreiter, Kallisti Music Press, Muramatsu Inc., Dorn, and Tara Publications. It can be heard on Naxos, Vantage, Plæne, Stylton, and Music Sources recording labels.

Composer DAVID CRUMB was born in 1962 into a musical family, and studied cello and piano from an early age. Later, he pursued advanced training in cello at the Eastman School (from 1980-85) before ultimately deciding to switch his focus to composition. His first important teacher, Samuel Adler, provided the initial spark that inspired him to pursue this new direction. Following Eastman, he enrolled in graduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania where he studied composition with Chinary Ung, Richard Wernick, Stephen Jaffe, and Jay Reise, and music theory with Leonard Meyer and Eugene Narmour. In the summer of 1987, Crumb received a fellowship to attend the Tanglewood Music Festival where he attended master classes held by and Oliver Knussen. Shortly thereafter, he traveled to Jerusalem, Israel to study composition and with Russian-born composer Mark Kopytman. While at the Rubin Academy, Crumb composed what he now considers to be his first mature work: Joyce Songs for mezzo-soprano, flute, clarinet, and cello (1989). Upon returning, Crumb received his first major commission from the Chicago Civic Orchestra (with support from the ASCAP Foundation). The resulting work, Clarino, was premiered in Chicago's Symphony Hall June 1991. Clarino served as Crumb's dissertation, for which he was awarded a Ph.D. in 1992.

Over the years, Crumb's music has been widely performed throughout the United States and abroad. His orchestral works have been performed by the Baltimore Symphony, the Cleveland Chamber Symphony, and the Chicago Civic Orchestra; his chamber works by the Parnassus Ensemble, Voices of Change, The Chicago Ensemble, Network for New Music, and Quattro Mani. A recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship, he has received commissions from the Fromm and Barlow Foundations, the Los Angeles Symphony New Music Group, the National Association of Wind and Percussion Instructors, and the Bowdoin International New Music Festival. He has held residencies at the Yaddo and MacDowell artist colonies and participated in numerous festivals including La Biennale di Venezia, Cincinnati Conservatory's “Music 2005,” Colorado College's Annual New Music Festival, and Bowling Green State University's 21st Annual New Music & Art Festival. Crumb has served as composer-in-residence at the Oregon Bach Festival Composers Symposium, and as featured guest composer at Washington State University's "Festival of Contemporary ."

Crumb's music has recently become available on compact disc recordings. In 2000, Variations for Cello and Chamber Ensemble, performed by cellist Ulrich Boeckheler and the Orchestra 2001, was released on the C.R.I. label. Two compositions for two pianos, Harmonia Mundi and The Whisperer, performed by Quattro Mani (duo- pianists Susan Grace and Alice Rybak), are available on the Innova label. His Awakening for trumpet and percussion has been released on Equilibrium.

Crumb joined the music faculty at the University of Oregon in 1997, where he continues to serve as an Associate Professor of Composition and Theory.

Hailed as “pure magic” (American Record Guide), and “clearly structured, colorful and unflaggingly compelling work” (Philadelphia Inquirer), composer MICHAEL FIDAY’s music has been commissioned and performed extensively throughout the United States and Europe by a diverse range of performers such as Atlanta Symphony, American Composers Orchestra, Okland East Bay Symphony, Percussion Ensemble of The Hague, pianists James Tocco and Marc-Andre Hamelin, and electric guitarist Seth Josel.

Born in 1961, Michael Fiday first began his musical training as a violinist at age 11, turning his attention to composing only a few years later. His principal teachers in composition have included Richard Toensing at University of Colorado, George Crumb at University of Pennsylvania, and Louis Andriessen, with whom he studided in Amsterdam under the auspices of a Fulbright Grant. Mr. Fiday is the recipient of numerous awards, grants, and residencies from, among others, BMI, ASCAP, American Composers Forum, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, The MacDowell Colony, Yaddo, Headlands Center for the Arts, and the Ohio Arts Council. He is currently Associate Professor of Composition at the College-Conservatory of Music at University of Cincinnati.

Violinist JIHYE JOELLE KEE has appeared as a soloist with orchestras including Eastman Symphony Orchestra and the Korean Canadian Symphony Orchestra. She distinguished herself in numerous competitions including the Atlantic Symphony Young Artist Competition (finalist) and Canadian Music Competition, and gave several recitals and at venues throughout and the United States. She performed in master classes for renowned such as Renaud Capuçon, Victor Danchenko, Leila Josefowicz and Ida Kavafian. As a full-scholarship recipient she participated in various summer festivals such as Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, Colorado College Summer Music Festival and Texas Music Festival.

She is also a passionate chamber and orchestra , coached by Mikhail Kopelmann, Peter Salaff, Stephen Rose, Toby Appel and the members of Ying Quartet, Tackas Quartet, and Cavani Quartet. Her trio won The Honor's Chamber Group audition and gave a performance in Kilbourn Hall and the trio was featured in the concert tour for New York Bible Conference for several years. Recently her string quartet received the top prize in the School Competition. Ms. Kee served as a section principal at the Kindred Spirit Orchestra in and she has been featured with the Royal Conservatory Orchestra as a concertmaster under maestro Johannes Debus.

Ms. Kee has earned a in violin performance at Cleveland Institute of Music and a of Music from Eastman School of Music under the tutelage of Zvi Zeitlin, Paul Kantor and Barry Shiffman. She currently resides in Miami Beach, Florida as a violinist for the New World Symphony.

Artistic director/composer GIDEON GEE-BUM KIM (born in Seoul, Korea in 1964) is a Korean- Canadian composer, conductor, and music educator and founder of the Toronto Messiaen Ensemble. His music draws on his Christian faith and shows a connection of the rich musical heritage of Korea and new compositional techniques, especially in the field of heterophony texture and all of this with live and emotional imagination.

Kim studied composition at Seoul National University and the University of Pennsylvania where he received a Ph.D. in composition under George Crumb. He described Kim as "a composer who shows great originality in use of rhythm and harmony, and possesses a fine melodic gift.” His mentors include George Crumb, Mark Kopytman and Young Ja Lee.

Kim is a former associate professor of music at the Kyungwon University and was a 'Distinguished Composer-In- Residence' at Colorado College which honoured him with an all-Kim concert of various chamber and solo compositions. He was also a Visiting Scholar at the University of Pennsylvania under the auspices of the Korean Arts and Culture Foundation. Currently Dr. Kim is an associate composer with the Canadian Music Centre which has been highlighting his music with its various projects since he moved to Canada in 2004. He is also a member of the Canadian League of Composers and ASCAP.

Kim’s compositions have been recognized with many international awards including the first prize of the International Composers Contest in Moldova, International Commission Award of Music At The Anthology (MATA) in New York, Today's Young Artist Award of the Korean Ministry of Culture, Grand Prize of the Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) Composition Competition, Creative Arts Awards of the Korean Culture and Arts Foundation, Ahn Eak Tae Composition Prize of the Korea Times, Ye Eum Prize of the Ye Eum Culture Foundation, Special Mention of New York Treble Singers Composition Competition, and the first prize of the Dong-A Music Concours.

Kim’s works have been commissioned and performed worldwide by many leading ensembles and orchestras such as the Jerusalem Kaprizma Ensemble, Gaudeamus Ensemble of Amsterdam, North/South Chamber Orchestra of New York, Continuum of New York, New York Treble Singers, Son of Lion of New York, Mise-En Ensemble of New York, Curtis Institute Orchestra of Philadelphia, Quattro Mani, Toronto Esprit Orchestra, Toronto Messiaen Ensemble, QAT Ensemble, Orchestra London Canada, Taiwan National Symphony Orchestra, Korean Symphony Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, New Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, Prime Philharmonic Orchestra, Seoul Baroque Ensemble, Trio Haan, Color String Quartet and Lee Myung Hee Gayaguem Quartet, and organizations (MATA, Colorado College, KBS, National Gugak Center, Music Association of Korea, Korean- Canadian Symphony Orchestra, and the Israeli Embassy in Seoul). He has been the recipient of full-scholarship and fellowship from the University of Pennsylvania, Seoul National University, the Pacific Music Center (Sapporo), Omi Arts Center (New York), Korean Culture and Arts Foundation (Seoul) and Kyunggi Culture and Arts Foundation (Suwon).

As a conductor, Kim has directed several musical ensembles in Canada and Korea including the Amabile String Orchestra at Seoul National University, Kyungwon Contemporary Players, the Toronto Messiaen Ensemble and “Lux Aeterna” Singers in Toronto. He has also appeared as a guest conductor in various contemporary music concerts and professional reading series in Israel, the United States, Canada and Korea. As a long standing partner of the Jerusalem Kaprizma Ensemble, Kim’s works have been performed and professionally recorded by the ensemble and are available for listening and downloading at the ensemble’s website. His works are also found in music and public libraries in Canada, the United States, France, Netherland, Italy, Germany, Israel and Korea. Kim’s music has been published by Ye-Dang Publisher and can be heard on Sony Classical, Synnara Music and Sung Eum Limited labels.

Winner of several prizes and awards, Korean-born cellist HEE YEON KIM completed her Honours Performance at Wilfrid Laurier University and her Artist Diploma at the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. Her mentors included Paul Pulford and David Heatherington.

Ms. Kim has participated in many music festivals in Canada. Over the years, Ms. Kim has had master classes working with many distinguished artists including Colin Carr, Richard Aaron, and Philippe Muller. As a chamber musician, Kim has performed a Piano Trio concert at KWCMS with the Karfour Trio and joined the Toronto Messiaen Ensemble in 2014.

Hailed by the as a “pragmatic musician”, Vancouver-raised pianist MATTHEW MING LI made his debut in China with the Xiamen Philharmonic Orchestra in 2006. He has since performed across Canada and also in the United States, Austria, China and Hong Kong. Mr. Li was a prize-winner of the 2014 Shean Piano Competition in Edmonton, . He was also the runner-up of the 2007 Canadian Music Competition and semi-finalist of the 2008 Stepping Stone Competition. Additionally, he was the winner of the Johann Strauss Scholarship Competition in 2008, as well as runner-up of the Indiana University Piano Concerto Competition in 2010. In 2012, he co-founded a piano duo group Duo Interplay with his wife, Melody Chan-Li; upon their debut performance they were awarded Third Place in the 2012 International Northwest Piano Ensemble Competition. By invitation from the Canadian composer Gideon Kim, Mr. Li joined the Toronto Messiaen Ensemble in 2013.

Mr. Li has attended various music programs over the past summers, including the Mozarteum Sommerakademie, Centre d’Arts Orford, and the Toronto Summer Music Festival. He had the privilege to perform in masterclasses under renowned pianists and pedagogues such as Leon Fleisher, Jacques Rouvier, Arie Vardi, Robert Levin, and Menahem Pressler.

Matthew Li holds a Master of Music degree from Indiana University, where he studied with Emile Naoumoff and Arnaldo Cohen. His earlier teachers include Sara Davis Buechner and Sheila Hardy. He recently completed the Artist Diploma Program at The Glenn Gould School and is currently pursuing a Doctorate of Musical Arts at the University of Toronto under the tutelage of Marietta Orlov.

Guitarist COLIN MCALLISTER enjoys a rich musical life as a soloist, chamber musician, conductor and educator. Since 2012, he has served as the Coordinator of the Music Program and Lecturer in Music and Humanities at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. A former student of Los Romeros and Stuart Fox, he also studied with Harvey Sollberger and Rand Steiger at the University of California, San Diego, where he earned his . He is recognized as a leading interpreter of new works and has worked with many composers including Christopher Adler, Matthew Burtner, Chaya Czernowin, Brian Ferneyhough, Helmut Lachenmann, Pamela Madsen and Tristan Murail.

Past performance highlights include appearances throughout North America and Europe including the Monday Evening Concerts, New Music Miami, San Francisco sfSound, Darmstadt International Music Festival, Festival Hispanoamericano de Guitarra, Dallas Festival of Modern Music, Foro Internacional de Música Nueva Manuel Enríquez in Mexico City, Tijuana Innovadora, Seattle Transport , Bohem Ragtime Festival, Breda Jazz Festival, Centro Mexicano para la Música y las Artes Sonoras (CMMAS), San Diego Opera, Colorado Symphony and the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.

His repertoire spans the gamut of historical periods and styles: from the late fourteenth-century polyphony of the ars subtilior to recent modernist works as well as jazz. He is frequently in demand as a chamber musician and has worked with many groups including NOISE, soundSCAPE, Peak FreQuency, Art of Élan and the Veronika String Quartet. In addition to music, Colin is currently pursuing the M. A. in History at UCCS. His research interests are centered on early Medieval Latin apocalyptic, and he is currently working on a translation of and critical commentary on an early tenth-century gloss on the Apocalypse of St. John found in a manuscript at Cambridge University Library.

Colin has recorded for the Innova, Albany, Old King Cole, Vienna Modern Masters, Carrier and Tzadik record labels. He has two publications with Productions d’OZ: The Vanguard Guitar and Fourteenth Century Counterpoint: Music of the Chantilly Codex. The Vanguard Guitar was praised by Soundboard magazine as “a great success…not only a primer of modern techniques, but also a library of current performance practices.”

The current season includes chamber performances with the McAllister-Keller Duo, Art of Élan, Taos Chamber Music Group, Peak FreQuency and the Toronto Messiaen Ensemble; new music festivals in La Jolla and Fairbanks, Alaska; a performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 7 with the San Diego Symphony Orchestra; multiple engagements with the Jazz Orchestra of the Springs and the Trilix Jazz Trio; and a paper presentation at the Notions of the Apocalyptic in the Humanities conference in Danville, Illinois. www.colinmcallister.com

OLIVIER MESSIAEN (December 10, 1908 – April 27, 1992) was a French composer, organist and ornithologist and one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex; harmonically and melodically it often uses modes of limited transposition, which he abstracted from his early compositions and improvisations. Messiaen also drew on his Roman Catholic faith for his pieces. He travelled widely and wrote works inspired by diverse influences such as Japanese music, the landscape of Bryce Canyon in Utah and the life of St. Francis of Assisi. He said he perceived colors when he heard certain musical chords (a phenomenon known as synaesthesia in its literal manifestation); combinations of these colors, he said, were important in his compositional process. For a short period Messiaen experimented with the parametrisation associated with "total ", in which field he is often cited as an innovator. His style absorbed many exotic musical influences such as Indonesian gamelan (tuned percussion often features prominently in his orchestral works). Messiaen entered the Paris Conservatoire at the age of 11 and was taught by Paul Dukas, Maurice Emmanuel, Charles-Marie Widor and Marcel Dupré, among others. He was appointed organist at the Église de la Sainte- Trinité in Paris in 1931, a post held until his death. He taught at the Schola Cantorum de Paris during the 1930s. On the fall of France in 1940, Messiaen was made a prisoner of war, during which time he composed his Quatuor pour la fin du temps ("Quartet for the end of time") for the four available instruments—piano, violin, cello and clarinet. The piece was first performed by Messiaen and fellow prisoners for an audience of inmates and prison guards. He was appointed professor of harmony soon after his release in 1941, and professor of composition in 1966 at the Paris Conservatoire, positions he held until his retirement in 1978. His many distinguished pupils included , Karlheinz Stockhausen and Yvonne Loriod, who became his second wife. He found birdsong fascinating, notating bird songs worldwide and incorporating birdsong transcriptions into his music. His innovative use of colour, his conception of the relationship between time and music, and his use of birdsong are among the features that make Messiaen's music distinctive.

Flutist PAUL NAGEM has held the position of Principal Flute in the Colorado Springs Symphony/Philharmonic since 1994. A graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music, he studied there with Lois Schaefer of the Boston Symphony. Prior to attending NEC he studied with Damian Bursill-Hall, then Principal Flute of the San Diego Symphony and now with the Pittsburgh Symphony.

In addition to his duties with the Colorado Springs Philharmonic, Mr. Nagem serves as Instructor of Flute at the Colorado College. He is a member of the Colorado Ballet orchestra, and the Colorado Chamber players. He has performed with the Colorado Symphony, the San Diego Symphony and the Singapore Symphony.

Clarinetist PETER PINTERIC is a founding member of the Toronto Messiaen Ensemble and performs as an orchestral and chamber musician in the Toronto area. This past season he played with Symphony and during the 2012-2013 season he was Acting Principal Clarinet of the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra. Recently, Peter has been a finalist or semi-finalist at auditions for the Norfolk, Detroit and Vancouver Symphony Orchestras.

A graduate of the University of Toronto with a Bachelor’s degree in Clarinet Performance, University of Minnesota with Master of Music degree and The Glenn Gould School with Artist Diploma, Peter participated in the Aspen Music Festival and School for the past three summers as a scholarship and fellowship recipient. He was also a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Canada from 2008-2010.

In his spare time, Peter enjoys detective stories, military history and international soccer. His favorite teams are Arsenal and Real Madrid.