Cliff Colnot, Conductor

Biography

In the past decade Cliff Colnot has emerged as a distinguished conductor and a musician of uncommon range.

One
of few musicians studying orchestral repertory with Daniel Barenboim,
Colnot is assistant conductor for Barenboim's West-Eastern Divan
Workshops for young musicians from Israel, Egypt, Syria, and other
Middle Eastern countries. He has been principal conductor of the
Chicago Symphony Orchestra's contemporary MusicNOW series since its
inception, and he was named principal conductor of the Civic Orchestra
of Chicago, an orchestra he has conducted since 1994. Colnot also
conducts Contempo at the University of Chicago, the American Composers
Orchestra, The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Utah Symphony, the
DePaul University Symphony and several orchestras at Indiana
University. He regularly conducts the International Contemporary
Ensemble (ICE) with whom he recently completed the recording of Richard
Wernick's The Name of the Game for Bridge Records. Colnot also
collaborates with the internationally acclaimed contemporary music
ensemble eighth blackbird and was the assistant conductor at Pierre
Boulez's Lucerne Academy.

Colnot is also a
master arranger. His orchestration of Shulamit Ran's Three Fantasy
Pieces for Cello and Piano was recorded by the English Chamber
Orchestra. He has been commissioned to write works for the chamber
group Pinotage, The Jerusalem International Chamber Music Festival,
Julia Bentley and ICE, the Yellow Barn Festival, and the CSO Percussion
Scholarship Group. His orchestration of Duke Ellington's New World
Coming was premiered by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra with Daniel
Barenboim as piano soloist in 2000, and Colnot also arranged,
conducted, and co-produced a CD, Tribute to Ellington, featuring
Barenboim at the piano. He wrote music for the MGM/UA motion picture
Hoodlum and has written for rock-and-roll, pop and jazz artists Richard
Marx, Phil Ramone, Hugh Jackman, Leann Rimes, SheDaisy, Patricia
Barber, Emerson Drive, and Brian Culbertson.

Colnot
graduated with honors from Florida State University and in 1995
received the Ernst von Dohnanyi Distinguished Alumni Award. He received
the prestigious Alumni Merit Award from Northwestern University, where
he earned his doctorate. The Chicago Tribune named Cliff Colnot a
Chicagoan of the Year in music in 2001, and in 2005 he received the
William Hall Sherwood Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Arts.
He has studied with master jazz teacher David Bloom and has taught jazz
arranging at DePaul University. He also teaches advanced orchestration
at the University of Chicago and film scoring at Columbia College. As a
bassoonist, he was a member of the Lyric Opera Orchestra of Chicago,
Music of the Baroque, and the Contemporary Chamber Players.