Reviews, Articles & Interviews
“The teen seduced by the siren call of Chicago jazz clubs in the 1940s would never have dreamed he would be playing in the orchestra pit for the original run of West Side Story only a decade later. Soon the budding composer would land commissions from the likes of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, meet a young Elizabeth Taylor in an unexpected backstage moment and begin a series of fascinating personal quests to discover the wellspring of creativity within him...” read more
John Terauds, Toronto Star, Feb. 20, 2010
Vince Talotta/Toronto Star
“Theorists are common, but people with practical wisdom are rare and valuable. Composer Michael Colgrass is one of those special people. His memoir, Michael Colgrass: Adventures of an American Composer, published today by Meredith Music... is filled with life lessons big and small... I wanted to highlight one particular lesson here. It appeals to me as a keyboard player and as a critic...” read more
John Terauds, Sound Mind, Feb. 20, 2010
John Terauds
“Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Colgrass is best known as a composer. However, the man has worn many hats, and the eighty-nine short anecdotes of his new autobiography Michael Colgrass: Adventures of an American Composer chronicle everything from his conception (yes, conception!) and lower-class immigrant upbringing in Chicago as a teenaged caricaturist...” read more
Crystal Chan, La Scena Musicale, March 2010
Photo: Paramita Nath
“I receive many letters from children. Here are two letters from teenagers at Laurel Valley High School in New Florence, Pennsylvania, who were encouraged by their high school band director, Jim Colonna, to write to a composer. I have a continuing correspondence with both students. Their letters are a ray of hope that the arts and living artists have meaning for young people... ” read more
La Scena Musicale, March 2010
Photo: Paramita Nath
“Toronto-based composer Michael Colgrass is a natural storyteller—and he has some terrific stories to tell. So the unusual format of this memoir, a series of vignettes ranging in length from a single page to four pages, works well here. Without disturbing the narrative flow, he can switch moods, locations, and time frames. And with eighty-nine chapters, he has lots of opportunities...” read more
Pamela Margles, The WholeNote, February 25, 2010
“Michael Colgrass holds the unique distinction among prominent classical composers in North America as the only one whose music is well known equally on both sides of the Canadian-American border. His career has divided neatly into two nearly equal halves, first in the United States, then in Canada, where he has lived since 1974. At the age of 78, and with an extensive, eclectic catalog of compositions behind him...” read more
Robert Markow, Fanfare, May/June 2010
“This 221-page autobiography of a gifted percussionist
and composer is an excellent addition to Michael Colgrass’ already-distinguished Pulitzer Prizewinning career. His unique writing style reflects his perspective of ‘Dreamer-
Realist-Critic’ and provides three logical divisions for his life: Part I, 1942–1949; Part II, 1950–1966; and Part III,
1967–present. Among the sage, inspirational quotes is one from his son, Neal, who at age eight said...” read more
Jim Lambert, Percussive Notes, May 2010
On KRCB radio in California, Michael tells why he wrote an autobiography of anecdotes (“it’s life with the boring parts cut out”) and recounts stories from the book—about Stravinsky, the Joffrey Ballet, the Tanglewood Music Festival, and his transformation from percussionist to composer in New York City. Hosted by Charles Sepos, the interview includes an excerpt from Michael’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “Deja vu.” (It may take a minute to load.) listen here
KRCB Radio, Sonomy Couty, Calif., June 25, 2010
Charles Sepos, KRCB host
"Michael Colgrass' autobiography is not your traditional self-serving tome, praising the author's achievements and laying the blame for mishaps on others. Rather, it is an engaging collection of 89 vignettes describing mostly amusing episodes in the composer's life. It is in fact the adventures of an American composer in the tradition of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn...” read more
WASBE World, June 2010
"For me, Thanksgiving is about appreciating the gifts that keep on giving, like the apple orchards near Castleton or the soybean fields of southwestern Ontario. I’ve added Toronto composer Michael Colgrass to my mental scrapbook of special gifts this year. He has inspired me in many ways: physically, as a spry 77-year-old who can still stand on his head...” read more (scroll down)
John Terauds, Toronto Star, October 8, 2010
"Now Michael, I am so excited. You’ve just put out a new book. I just read this, and I’m quite happy to say that not only have I found great pleasure in it, but Gunther Schuller’s found pleasure in it, Leonard Slatkin — look at all of these names that you have in the pages. Well done. How long have you been working on this?” So begins my enjoyable hour-long interview with John Gray. listen here
Canadian Music Centre, May 19, 2010
“In his autobiography Michael Colgrass: Adventures of an American Composer, the Pulitzer Prize winner tells his story through a series of personal anecdotes that read like an extended jazz riff. You may have no idea where he’s going with it, but you can’t help but nod your head in time to his irresistible beat.” read more
PulitzerPrizeMusic.com, August 5, 2011
