Musik-Kurswochen
Arosa
June – November 2024
Liz Ames
Liz Ames is a collaborative pianist who is passionate about performing and working with instrumentalists, vocalists, and composers. Her international appearances include performances in Belgium, UK, Spain, the 2012 World Saxophone Congress in St. Andrews, Scotland, the 2015 World Saxophone Congress in Strasbourg, France, the 2008 Contemporary Music Festival in Lima, Peru, and at the 2011 and 2016 International Double Reed Society Conferences. Liz has served as a staff pianist for the North American Saxophone Alliance Biennial Conferences in Tempe, AZ, Urbana-Champagne, IL, and Lubbock,TX, and has been the Navy Saxophone Symposium staff pianist since 2016.

Alongside her work as a performer, Liz is devoted to creating piano reductions using extended and innovative techniques. She has written several published reductions including Henry Brant’s Concerto for Saxophone and Orchestra, Peter Schickele’s Concerto for Simply Grand Piano, and multiple concertos and oratorios by Steven Bryant, Joel Puckett, Don Grantham, David Biedenbender, and John Mackey. Liz completed her doctorate in collaborative piano at Arizona State University and is currently living in Ann Arbor, Michigan where she is a staff pianist at the University of Michigan. She performs with musicians throughout the Midwest and with her duo partner, three-time Grammy-winning saxophonist, Timothy McAllister. The McAllister/Ames duo released two albums in July 2020 including the collected works of British composer/saxophonist Andy Scott, as well as a disc of iconic saxophone repertoire by William Albright, Edison Denisov, Steven Stucky, David Biedenbender, Bruno Mantovani and Augusta Read Thomas.