'The Library at Night' Featuring Colin McAllister and Steven Hayward

Colin McAllister premiered “The Library at Night” at the San Diego Public Library in March 2016. Drawing inspiration from Alberto Manguel’s book of the same name (a series of essays on the idea of the library), this captivating new recital takes the listener on a literary, musical, and historical journey through time and place.

For several of Manguel’s essays (e.g. The Library as Imagination, The Library as Space, The Library as Oblivion) McAllister interweaves music alongside poetry, historical vignettes, and visual imagery in an engaging concert-length presentation. The compelling selection of music includes masters of medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque polyphony, the first “Golden Age” of the guitar, sensual rhythms from Latin America and a newly commissioned work, “Spines,” by award-winning composer Christopher Adler.