MICHAEL CIUFO

Clarinetist Max Christie is one of Canada’s most capable and recognized performers of contemporary music. He has recorded the works of Harry Somers, Brian Current, Melissa Hui, Rudolph Komouros, Brian Cherney and many other prominent composers. 

His CD of the MC McGuire double concerto for Clarinet and Oboe, Spawn of Abe is on the Innova label, and his performance of Gra for solo clarinet by Elliot Carter, is available from Naxos. He also participated in many recordings with the Esprit Orchestra and Continuum Contemporary Music.
As a member of New Music Concerts ensemble he has worked with some of the most celebrated composers on the international scene, including Pierre Boulez, Heinz Holliger, Roger Reynolds, and Elliot Carter. His performance of Michel Gonneville’s La Cheminement de la Baleine, a double concerto for clarinet and Ondes Martenot, drew unqualified praise from the composer. He works in the medium of Contemporary Opera as well, having collaborated with Soundstreams on Harry Somers’ The Death of Enkidu, Tapestry New Opera on Elsewhereless by Rodney Sharman, and Queen of Puddings The Midnight Court, and the premier of Omar Daniel’s The Shadow in the Spring of 2009. 

He has for more than 30 years been the Principal Clarinet of the National Ballet Orchestra, performing in the pit some of the most beloved music of the classical repertoire, and at times joining the dancers on stage to perform Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet in James Kudelka’s ballet Musings. Mr. Christie teaches and coaches both at the University of Toronto and privately.