Remembering Cliff Colnot

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra family mourns the loss of Cliff Colnot, a consummate musician of uncommon range and a distinguished conductor. With the CSO Association he served in numerous capacities, most notably as a conductor of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and the MusicNOW series for more than 20 years. Colnot died in Chicago on February 12, 2024, following a long illness. He was 76.

Cliff Colnot was born on October 7, 1947, in Youngstown, Ohio. He graduated with honors from Florida State University, and in 1995, he received the Ernst von Dohnányi Certificate of Excellence. Colnot also received the Alumni Merit Award from Northwestern University, where he earned his doctorate. In 2001, the Chicago Tribune named Cliff Colnot a “Chicagoan of the Year” in music, and in 2005, he received the William Hall Sherwood Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Arts. In 2016, Colnot was awarded the Alice M. Ditson Conductor’s Award of Columbia University for his commitment to the performance of works by American composers.

One of few musicians to have studied orchestral repertoire with ninth music director Daniel Barenboim, Colnot served as assistant conductor for Barenboim’s West-Eastern Divan workshops for young musicians from Israel, Egypt, Syria and other Middle Eastern countries. He also worked extensively with former principal guest conductor and conductor emeritus Pierre Boulez, serving as assistant conductor at the Lucerne Festival Academy. Colnot studied with master jazz teacher David Bloom and taught jazz arranging at DePaul University, film scoring at Columbia College and advanced orchestration at the University of Chicago. As a bassoonist, he was a member of the Lyric Opera of Chicago Orchestra, Music of the Baroque and the Contemporary Chamber Players.

Colnot was a frequent conductor with the International Contemporary Ensemble, and he collaborated with the internationally acclaimed contemporary music ensemble Eighth Blackbird. He also conducted Contempo at the University of Chicago and the DePaul University Symphony Orchestra and Wind Ensemble. Colnot appeared as a guest conductor with the San Antonio Philharmonic, the American Composers Orchestra, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Utah Symphony and the Chicago Philharmonic.

A master arranger, Colnot prepared works by Shulamit Ran, Gustav Mahler, Arnold Schoenberg, Manuel de Falla and Olivier Messiaen, among countless others, for 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. He also composed for rock, pop and jazz artists Richard Marx, Phil Ramone, Hugh Jackman, LeAnn Rimes, SHeDAISY, Patricia Barber, Emerson Drive and Brian Culbertson.

Cliff Colnot is dearly remembered by his longtime collaborators and close friends David Bloom, Stefan Hersh and Marina Zurkow. There will be no services, and details for a memorial service will be announced at a later date.

Several members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra family have expressed tributes to Colnot’s memory:

“I will remember Cliff Colnot with great affection and respect. 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.” — Riccardo Muti, CSO music director emeritus for life and former music director

“I am very sad by the news of Cliff Colnot’s death. He had great knowledge and was passionately involved in many ways with music. I shall miss him very deeply.” — Daniel Barenboim, former CSO music director 

“The Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association is extremely grateful to Cliff Colnot for his close to thirty years of collaboration and music-making in a wide variety of settings.  We are saddened by his passing, yet comforted to know his work with us has created and inspired countless musicians and listeners of the future.” — Jeff Alexander, CSOA president

“Cliff was one of the most generous people I have met in the business. Above all he cared about Music, which was his universe; he did not talk much, he went straight to the point and  was always ready to help in  every possible way. He was incredibly talented and  leaves a big empty space in our music world.” — Cristina Rocca, CSOA vice president for artistic administration

“Cliff Colnot was an educator who denied himself so as to share intellectually and financially with every student and colleague. He rejected the title of Maestro and embraced the word teacher, and I learned to be a better human being.” — Beth Chase, personal and executive assistant to Colnot

“I am deeply saddened to hear of Cliff’s passing. He was an extraordinary musician with unique capacity to read and interpret any score. His commitment to contemporary music and the training of young musicians was so admirable and his collaborations were powerful advancing those interests.” — Deborah Rutter, president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and former CSOA president

“I am very saddened by Cliff’s passing. A warm and caring person, he was a marvelous and committed musician, dedicated to contemporary music and the education of the next generations of musicians.” — Henry Fogel, former CSOA president

“I played for Cliff in recording sessions years ago and with MusicNOW for numerous years. I have never felt better prepared going into a new music performance than when Cliff had led the rehearsals. A brilliant man with fantastic ability to hear what was going on in a new piece. I will personally miss him.” — J. Lawrie Bloom, former CSO clarinet and bass clarinet

“Cliff Colnot lived a life in music. He never stopped learning, never stopped teaching and his contribution to new music in Chicago is legend. He did not see borders in music, easily transitioning from symphonic to commercial, contemporary instrumental to jazz, and arranging music from Stravinsky to Donna Summer. In addition to these musical gifts, Cliff was one of the most quietly generous human beings I know. He seemed to know when the people in his life needed help, and he would quietly lend support to make their life a little easier and a little better.” — Martha Gilmer, CEO of the San Diego Symphony and former CSOA vice president for artistic administration

“Cliff Colnot’s love for and dedication to his friends, students and colleagues was unmatched. His passing leaves a void for many of us who had the pleasure of working with and learning from him. His work with generations of young musicians in the Civic Orchestra of Chicago leaves a lasting legacy; his stewardship of MusicNOW from its inception helped create an enduring rich and fertile environment for new music in Chicago. He was a kind, generous, soulful man, and I’ll miss him.” — Matías Tarnopolsky, president and CEO of the Philadelphia Orchestra and Kimmel Center and former CSOA director of artistic administration

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