Dalí Quartet &
Timothy McAllister

Saturday, May 1, 2027

7:30 p.m.

From Europe to the Caribbean: A transatlantic program
for strings and saxophone

Ari Isaacman-Beck and Carlos Rubio, violin
Adriana Linares, viola | Jesús Morales, cello
Timothy McAllister, saxophone

A vibrant and thrilling international program by the Dalí Quartet and Timothy McAllister closes our 49th season with a celebratory selection marking new beginnings and venerable endings. Arriaga, often called the “Spanish Mozart”, lived only 20 years but made his mark on the chamber music world with a delightfully clever set of string quartets. Beethoven’s 16th and final quartet then ushers in Adolf Busch’s quintet for strings and alto saxophone, among the first-ever compositions for this instrument. The program, and our season, closes with a salute to the quartet’s Latin American heritage through a setting of classic Caribbean dance music by the Cuban-American saxophone icon, Paquito d’Rivera. Come celebrate with us and usher in a half-century of Dumbarton Concerts!

Juan Crisóstomo de Arriaga String Quartet No. 2 in A Major
Ludwig van Beethoven String Quartet No. 16 in F Major, Op. 135
Adolf Busch Quintet for Alto Saxophone and String Quartet, Op. 34
Paquito D’Rivera Preludio y Merengue

$50 live in-person

About the Artists

The Dalí Quartet is acclaimed for bringing Latin American quartet repertoire to an equal standing alongside the Classical and Romantic canon. Tours of its Classical Roots, Latin Soul programming have reached enthusiastic audiences across the U.S., Canada and South America. Its fresh approach has been sought out by distinguished series in New York, Buffalo, Toronto, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Los Angeles, San Diego, Boston, Clevaland, Seattle, San Juan and countless communities beyond. The quartet has been called upon for return engagements at Bravo!Vail Music Festival, National Gallery of Art, Friends of Chamber Music in Portland, Chamber Music Tulsa, the Slee Beethoven Cycle Series, the SA’OAXACA International Music Festival in México, among others. Other recent appearances include the Virginia Arts Festival, Princeton University Summer Chamber Concerts, Maverick Concerts, and the east coast premiere of Anna Clyne’s Quarter Days, Concerto for String Quartet and Chamber Orchestra, co-commissioned by the Harrisburg Symphony, and the world premiere of Roydon Tse's work for string quartet and full orchestra with the Annapolis Symphony.

In addition to works of the masters from Haydn to Brahms and Amaya to Piazzolla, the group's adventurous and entertaining programming includes new works for quartet with percussionist Orlando Cotto, and quintets both Latin and Classical with the renowned clarinetist Ricardo Morales, principal clarinetist of The Philadelphia Orchestra, and with acclaimed pianist Vanessa Perez. The Dalí Quartet has an ongoing collaboration with the Van Cliburn Competition’s gold-medal winning pianist Olga Kern, with whom they have toured from coast to coast and recorded the piano quintets of Brahms and Shostakovich released on the Delos label. 

The Dalí Quartet is Chamber Music America's 2024 Ensemble of the Year, recipient of the 2023 ACMP Foundation's Susan McIntosh Lloyd Award for Excellence and Diversity in Chamber Music, 2021 recipient of Chamber Music America's Guarneri String Quartet Residency, funded by the Sewell Family Foundation, and the 2021 Silver Medal at the inaugural Piazzolla Music Competition. The quartet is also the 2019 recipient of the Atlanta Symphony's esteemed Aspire Award for accomplished African American and Latino Musicians. The quartet’s latest CD is Voces Latinas is now available on Centaur Records.

The Dalí is devoted to audience development and to reaching communities of all kinds. The group’s Latin Fiesta Workshops and Family Concerts in both traditional and innovative settings move listeners – literally! The Dalí Quartet is sought after for master classes and professional development workshops for students, (recently at the National Repertory Orchestra, Miami University, Michigan State, the University of Wisconsin, and the University of Iowa) and has opened musical vistas for younger kids with its week-long Any Given Child programs (over three seasons for the Tulsa Public School System). In addition, the quartet’s International Music Festival is an admired chamber music and orchestral program founded in 2004 which develops the performance skills of young musicians up through semi-professional level. The Dalí has also served as a guest resident ensemble at Lehigh University, and the Hartt School of Music's Composition Feldman/Geoffroy Ensemble-in-Residence at the University of Hartford. 

Trained by world-renowned artists, members of the Dalí Quartet are from Venezuela, Puerto Rico and the US, and have degrees from esteemed institutions including the New England Conservatory, Cleveland Institute of Music, Juilliard, Indiana University Bloomington, and the Simón Bolivar Conservatory in Caracas, Venezuela. The quartet is based in Philadelphia, PA.

Inspired by its namesake, the great Spanish artist Salvador Dalí, the quartet holds imagination and excellence at the heart of its music making.

The quartet serves as faculty at West Chester University Wells School of Music as the Quartet in Residence, and is an Iris Collective Resident Ensemble .

The Dalí Quartet proudly uses Pirastro Strings and WMutes.

Worldwide representation by Jonathan Wentworth Associates.

Soprano chair of the renowned PRISM Quartet and today’s most celebrated classical saxophonist, Timothy McAllister has been hailed as “a virtuoso” (The New York Times), an “exemplary soloist” (Gramophone Magazine), and “a titan of contemporary music and the instrument, in general” (The Cleveland Plain Dealer). Since his concerto debut at age sixteen with the Houston Civic Symphony, his career has taken him to over 20 countries, with solo performances in many of the world’s most prestigious venues including Prince Royal Albert Hall in London, the Sydney Opera House, Carnegie Hall and Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw.

McAllister’s critically acclaimed, internationally released recordings can be heard on the Nonesuch, Stradivarius, XAS/Symphonic, Summit, OMM, Einstein, NAXOS, AUR, New Dynamic, Albany, Equilibrium, New Focus, Centaur, G.I.A. Publications, Parma, and Innova labels. Mark Stryker of the Detroit Free Press recognized his over 50 albums as the top classical saxophone recordings in the industry, and he has been featured on three GRAMMY-winning albums.

McAllister has premiered over 300 new works by today’s most eminent and emerging composers ranging from solo compositions by Wynton Marsalis, Gunther Schuller, Caleb Burhans, Jennifer Higdon, Kati Agocs, Nina Shekhar, Mischa Zupko, Matthew Evan Taylor, Roshanne Etezady, Kristin Kuster to saxophone quartets and chamber works by William Bolcom, Martin Bresnick, Viet Cuong, Juri Seo, George Lewis, Emma O’Halloran, Nathalie Joachim, Fang Man, Erik Santos, Lee Hyla, Libby Larsen, Lei Liang, Huang Ruo, Bright Sheng, David Rakowski, Zhou Long, Chen Yi, Joel Puckett, Ken Ueno, Donnacha Dennehy, David T. Little, Michael Daugherty among many others. Recent and future seasons feature concerto commissions by Adolphus Hailstork, Steven Mackey, James Lee III, Pierre Jalbert, Viet Cuong, Paul Moravec, Michael Shapiro, and Errollyn Wallen.

In 2022, he gave the World Premiere of American icon John Corigliano’s Triathlon for Saxophonist and Orchestra with the San Francisco Symphony, under the baton of GRAMMY-winning conductor Giancarlo Guerrero, and he later reprised the work in his accalimed solo debut with the New York Philharmonic and conductor Leonard Slatkin. His recording of Triathlon with Guerrero and the Nashville Symphony on Naxos Records is due for imminent release. Further, he was the featured soloist in the 2024 Pulitzer Prize-winning work Adagio (For Wadada Leo Smith) for alto saxophone and orchestra by the virtuoso performer/composer and MacArthur Fellow Tyshawn Sorey, premiered at the Lucerne Festival in Switzerland, and, later, in its U.S. Premiere with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.

In August 2013, he gave the World Premiere of John Adams’ Saxophone Concerto - described by The Sydney Morning Herald as “an astonishing performance” - with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra under the baton of the composer in the Sydney Opera House. Subsequent United States premieres and international performances followed throughout 2013 and 2014 with Marin Alsop and the Baltimore and Sao Paulo State (Brazil) symphonies, along with a recording of the Concerto and City Noir for Nonesuch Records with David Robertson and the St. Louis Symphony, which won the 2015 GRAMMY Award for “Best Orchestral Performance.” Major engagements with this Concerto have also included the BBC Proms with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, New World Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Croatian Radiotelevision Symphony, and the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra. As part of the 70th Birthday celebrations worldwide honoring Adams in 2017, he performed the Concerto with the Houston Symphony Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre National de Lyon, Indianapolis Symphony, along with other performances of the composer’s music with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Diego Symphony, and the Berlin Philharmonic.

The spotlight first shined on his career in October 2009 when he appeared as saxophonist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic for Gustavo Dudamel’s Inaugural Gala concert performing the World Premiere of Pulitzer Prize and GRAMMY Award-winning composer John Adams’ major work, City Noir (released on DVD by Deutsche Grammophon), and performed the work with the orchestra throughout its 2010 U.S. Tour, culminating in an appearance in New York City’s Lincoln Center. In March 2015, he reprised his City Noir role with the LAPhil and Dudamel for an acclaimed Asian Tour, including concerts in Hong Kong, Beijing, Seoul and Tokyo. He reunited with Dudamel in June 2017 for a performance of the work with the legendary Berlin Philharmonic, which currently appears on the orchestra’s acclaimed Digital Concert Hall and was recorded for the 2019 GRAMMY-Nominated “John Adams Edition” Anthology. To date, McAllister has performed Adams’s City Noir over 65 times with more than 20 different orchestras worldwide.

Other recent performances as soloist and recording artist include the London Symphony Orchestra, Brussels Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, Utah Symphony, Sinfonia of London, Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra, CityMusic Cleveland Chamber Orchestra, Reno Philharmonic, Monterey Symphony, the Hot Springs Festival Orchestra, Texas Festival Orchestra at Round Top, Dallas Wind Symphony, United States Navy Band, Hong Kong Wind Philharmonia, Tokyo Wind Symphony, and the Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings, of which he serves as a core member. In great demand as an orchestral saxophonist, he has appeared in the wind sections of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Oregon Symphony, Houston Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, Phoenix Symphony, New World Symphony, Grand Rapids Symphony, Seattle Symphony, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

As a member of the PRISM Quartet, he has collaborated with The Crossing, Pacific Symphony, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Opera Colorado, Columbus Symphony, Jacksonville Symphony, Ocean City Pops (NJ), Augusta Symphony, Cantori New York, Talujon Percussion Quartet, SO Percussion, Partch Ensemble, and the Nashville Symphony, in addition to numerous chamber music engagements and festivals nationwide such as the SONIC Festival, Bang On A Can Marathon and the Big Ears Festival. Recent seasons have involved innovative crossover collaborations between the PRISM Quartet and major jazz artists/composers through PRISM’s Heritage/Evolution series including Melissa Aldana, Arturo O’Farrill, Greg Osby, Tim Ries, Joe Lovano, Dave Liebman, Steve Lehman, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Tyshawn Sorey, Terrell Stafford, Ravi Coltrane, Chris Potter, and Miguel Zenon. Upcoming PRISM commissions and recordings include Hannah Kendall, Marcos Balter, Flannery Cunningham, Michael Gordon, Martin Bresnick, Juri Seo, Bright Sheng, Roberto Sierra, Adam Silverman, George Lewis, Jungyoon Wie, Susie Ibarra, Nina C. Young, Emily Cooley, & Robert Capanna.

An active collaborator in mixed chamber music, he has appeared with the Dover String Quartet, the Dali String Quartet, the Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings, percussionist Doug Perkins, the Chicago-based Civitas Ensemble, Grammy-winning guitarist Jason Vieaux, and in duo and trio repertoire with pianist Liz Ames and legendary saxophonist Branford Marsalis. Future collaborations include a large-scale commission project with the Apollo Chamber Players for the ensemble’s 20th Anniversary Season, as well as concerts with acclaimed zheng artist Haiqiong Deng and cimbalom virtuoso Chester Englander.

A dedicated teacher, McAllister is Professor of Saxophone at The University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre and Dance, following the legacies of Larry Teal and Donald Sinta. This followed the same post at Northwestern University, succeeding the legendary Frederick Hemke, where he also served as Co-Director of the inaugural Institute for New Music from 2012-2015. Other faculty positions have included Arizona State University’s Herberger Institute School of Music, The University of Arizona Fred Fox School of Music, and SUNY Potsdam’s Crane School of Music. He spends his summers as a distinguished Valade Fellow/Instructor of Saxophone for the Interlochen Center for the Arts. He has given clinics and recitals at many of the nation’s elite universities and conservatories, and in 2003, he was invited by French virtuoso Claude Delangle to serve as a Guest Professor at the famed Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique in Paris. In 2013, he was a co-founding faculty member of the annual American Saxophone Academy first convened at the Eastman School of Music, and he is the first American saxophonist to serve as an instructor at the European University for Saxophone in Gap, France in 2015. He holds regular summer workshops at the Arosa (Switzerland) and Orford (Quebec, Canada) Music Academies and for the University of Michigan MPulse Program. From 2018-2024, he served as International Visiting Professor in Saxophone for the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM), Manchester UK. His former pupils can be found throughout academia, arts organizations, and military concert bands, as well as having been awarded top prizes in the Naumburg, Astral Artists, Concert Artists Guild, North American Saxophone Alliance, MTNA, Fischoff and other prestigious international competitions.

He holds the Doctor of Musical Arts and other degrees in music education, conducting and performance from The University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre and Dance, where he studied saxophone with Donald Sinta and conducting with H. Robert Reynolds. Upon graduation, he was the first saxophonist to ever receive the SMTD’s most distinguished performance award—the Albert A. Stanley Medal. Alongside composer Derek Bermel, acclaimed tenor Nicholas Phan and New York Metropolitan Opera coach Howard Watkins, McAllister has been honored with the Paul C. Boylan Award from the Michigan School of Music Alumni Society for his significant contributions to the field of music. He and his PRISM Quartet colleagues received the inaugural Christopher Kendall Alumni Award, bestowed upon chamber groups or individuals who have demonstrated great achievement in performance, outreach, innovation and entrepreneurship. As a student, he was the featured soloist for the University of Michigan Symphony Band Centennial Anniversary Tour in 1997 and soprano chair of the Ninth Circle Saxophone Quartet, the first of its kind to be awarded the Grand Prize at the 2001 Fischoff Chamber Music Competition.

Timothy McAllister is on the artist roster of Jonathan Wentworth Associates, Ltd. Additionally, he is a Conn-Selmer artist/clinician, while also serving as a Backun Woodwind Artist, assisting with research and mouthpiece design. He endorses Key Leaves and Peak Performance Woodwind products.