Michael Colgrass

Overview - Recordings - Scores - Books - Links

Born: April 22, 1932, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Michael Colgrass's Winds of Nagual made a big splash in the band world in 1985. This was the first of his large-scale fantasias for symphonic winds, boasting a length of breath rare in the band repertoire. The Corporon recording is a delight, but the new live Battisti recording, performed by the conductor and ensemble who premiered the work, promises to be a special addition to the catalogue.

Urban Requiem is another Colgrass success for winds, as evidenced by the number of recordings it has received in the past 5 years. I've only heard the Minnesota recording, part of a superb 2-CD program of wind ensemble music, and it's an intense, take-no-prisoners listening experience. Colgrass has also rescored his Pulitzer-prize winning Déjà Vu for wind ensemble.

Recordings

Works	Performers	Reviews	Stores
Winds of Nagual	Cincinnati Wind Symphony Eugene Corporon	Snook Salas	Tower Amazon
Winds of Nagual	New England Conservatory Wind Ensemble Frank Battisti		Tower Amazon
Winds of Nagual	Northwestern University Symphonic Wind Ensemble Mallory Thompson		Tower Amazon
Arctic Dreams	New England Conservatory Wind Ensemble Frank Battisti	Snook	Tower Amazon
Urban Requiem	University of Miami Wind Ensemble Gary Green	Salas	Tower Amazon
Urban Requiem	University of Minnesota Symphonic Wind Ensemble Craig Kirchhoff		Tower Amazon
Dream Dancer	Lynn Klock, alto saxophone University of Miami Wind Ensemble Gary Green		Tower Amazon
Déjà Vu	North Texas Wind Symphony Eugene Corporon	McColley	Tower Amazon

Scores

Winds of Nagual

Books

My Lessons With Kumi: How I Learned to Perform With Confidence in Life and Work by Michael Colgrass