Michael Colgrass: Music Maverick is a documentary in progress about Pulitzer Prize–winning composer Michael Colgrass. This site chronicles our project with video excerpts, background info and news updates. See the full film in 2013!

Arctic Dreams Video

In this excerpt, Colgrass talks about living in the Arctic in 1989 and finding the inspiration to write Arctic Dreams for wind ensemble. (Read more about our documentary project below.)

A Musical Maverick

Fitting the life of Michael Colgrass into one documentary is no easy task: jazz drummer, classical percussionist, Pulitzer Prize–winning composer, performance trainer, author, music educator — each of his careers could be a film in itself. PBS made the Emmy Award–winning Soundings: The Music of Michael Colgrass in 1982, but Colgrass has done a lot since then, writing for top international ensembles and soloists, teaching composition at middle schools and high schools, writing two books, training Neuro-Linguistic Programmers... and more. Read about Michael on his blog or his homepage.