Dean Robert Annis

In addition to serving as Westminster's dean, Robert Annis is also clarinetist with Collage New Music, the highly regarded Boston-based ensemble devoted to performing music of the 20th and 21st centuries. The group's recording of John Harbsion's Mottetti di Montale with mezzo-sopranos Janice Felty and Margaret Lattimore has been nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Small Ensemble Performance category. Winners will be announced February 8, 2006.

"Receiving a Grammy nomination is certainly an honor," says Annis. "As a musician committed to the performance of contemporary classical music, it's especially rewarding to see new music recognized in this way."

The ensemble's January 30 concert in Boston received a rave review from the Boston Globe, which wrote "…the performance by Collage virtuosos …was superb."

Robert Annis has performed as clarinetist with numerous orchestras and chamber music ensembles and as a recitalist throughout the United States. Formerly a member of the San Antonio Symphony, he began substituting with the Boston Symphony and Boston Pops while an undergraduate student at New England Conservatory. His performances have been broadcast on the Public Broadcasting System, National Public Radio, and the Tokyo Broadcasting System. He has appeared on over 40 recordings for such labels as Philips, Nonesuch, CRI, Koch, Northeastern, GunMar, Crest and Delos labels.

As clarinetist since 1975 and former executive director of Collage New Music, he has participated in the commissions and premieres of more than 200 new works, including 80 world premieres. He is one of only seven musicians who compose the core of Collage New Music, whose mission is to commission, perform and record contemporary classical music. The ensemble strives to provide an arena for the union of composer, performer, and listener through its annual series of concerts, ongoing recordings and innovative programming.

Seiji Ozawa, Gunther Schuller, Sir Michael Tippett, Milton Babbitt, Peter Maxwell Davies Clark Terry and Vanessa Redgrave are among those who have appeared as guests with the ensemble. Presentations by Collage New Music have ranged from intimate chamber performances to fully-staged chamber operas and music with extensive electronic equipment. Collage New Music has also been featured at the Tanglewood Contemporary Music Festival, including the opening concert for the 2001 festival, which was broadcast on PBS television and Entertainment Tonight.