Colgrass, Michael 1932-

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COLGRASS, Michael 1932-

PERSONAL: Born April 22, 1932, in Brookfield, IL; son of Michael C. (a postmaster) and Ann (Hand) Colgrass; married Ulla Dahgaard, November 24, 1966; children: Neal. Education: University of Illinois, B.A.

ADDRESSES: Home and office—583 Palmerston Ave., Toronto, Ontario, Canada M6G 2P6. E-mail— [email protected].

CAREER: Composer and musician, including appearances with Boston Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic Orchestra, American Ballet Theater, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, and Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Performed as a jazz percussionist in and around Chicago, IL, 1944-49; percussion soloist and performer with other musicians, including Dizzy Gillespie; recordings include Variations for Four Drums and Viola, MGM Records; Three Brothers, Urania Records; and Percussion Music, Period Records; appeared in television documentary special Soundings: The Music of Michael Colgrass, broadcast by Public Broadcasting Service. Certified trainer in neuro-linguistic programming; presenter of Excellence in Performance workshops throughout North America and around the world; creator of "Deep Listening," a hypnosis technique for musical audiences.

MEMBER: American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers.

AWARDS, HONORS: Pulitzer Prize for music, 1978, for "Deja vu"; Emmy Award, National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, 1982, for documentary program Soundings: The Music of Michael Colgrass; Jules Leger Prize for new chamber music, 1988; two Guggenheim fellowships; Fromm Award; Ford Foundation award; first prize from Barlow & Sudler International Wind Ensemble competitions; Rockefeller Foundation grant.

WRITINGS:

My Lessons with Kumi: How I Learned to Perform with Confidence in Life and Work, Real People Press (Moab, UT), 2000.

Musical compositions include "A Flute in the Kingdom of Drums and Bells," 1995; "Urban Requiem," 1996; and "Hammer and Bow," 1997. Author of a column in Music (Canadian periodical), 1979-88. Contributor to other periodicals, including New York Times and Christian Science Monitor.

ADAPTATIONS: Many of Colgrass's musical compositions have been recorded by others.

SIDELIGHTS: Michael Colgrass told CA: "A friend described my motivation for writing when he called me an 'escapee.' When I asked him what he meant he said, 'You escaped from Brookfield, Illinois—population 10,000—and escapees often feel compelled to go back and help others escape.'

"The content of my book, My Lessons with Kumi: How I Learned to Perform with Confidence in Life and Work, is the result of my studies in neurolinguistic programming combined with my personal experience as a musician-performer from 1943 to 1967, including an eleven-year career as a freelance percussionist in New York City. Participants in my Excellence in Performance workshops requested that I write my ideas in book form. The workshop resulted from my years of performing experience and the desire to share this experience with others."