Conductor and Arranger Cliff Colnot has Died, Aged 76

The assistant conductor to Daniel Barenboim and Pierre Boulez, Colnot also arranged music for groups such as the English Chamber Orchestra and Yellow Barn Music Festival

The American conductor and arranger Cliff Colnot has passed away at the age of 76. Colnot was a musical polymath, with his expertise encompassing conducting, arranging and orchestration, film scoring, contemporary music, and the bassoon.

Born in Youngstown, Ohio, in 1947, Colnot graduated with honors from Florida State University, and in 1995, he received the Ernst von Dohnányi Certificate of Excellence. He continued on to Northwestern University for his doctorate and later received its Alumni Merit Award.

A conducting student of Daniel Barenboim, Colnot served as Assistant Conductor for his West-Eastern Divan workshops, which brought together young musicians from Israel, Egypt, Syria, and other parts of the Middle East. Pierre Boulez was also a strong influence, and Colnot was his assistant at the Lucerne Festival Academy.

As a conductor, Colnot also had significant expertise in contemporary music and often worked with groups such as the International Contemporary Ensemble and Eighth Blackbird.

He was also a highly skilled arranger, and re-wrote works by Shulamit Ran, Gustav Mahler, Arnold Schoenberg, Manuel de Falla, and Olivier Messiaen, among countless others, for groups such as the English Chamber Orchestra, the Jerusalem International Chamber Music Festival, ICE, Yellow Barn Music Festival, Chicago Symphony Orchestra Percussion Scholarship Group, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

As well as teaching at DePaul University and Columbia College, Colnot also played the bassoon in the Lyric Opera of Chicago Orchestra, Music of the Baroque, and the Contemporary Chamber Players.

"I will remember Cliff Colnot with great affection and respect," said conductor Riccardo Muti. "He did great work with the Civic Orchestra for many years and he even came to Italy to experience my work with the young musicians of the Cherubini Orchestra. Every time I worked with the Civic Orchestra, he would sit among the young musicians following the rehearsals and the concerts."

"I am very sad[dened] by the news of Cliff Colnot’s death," added conductor and pianist Daniel Barenboim. "He had great knowledge and was passionately involved in many ways with music. I shall miss him very deeply."