Colorado Music Festival features world renowned saxophonist Timothy McAllister performing piece written specifically for him

Audiences at the Colorado Music Festival got a real treat. World renowned concert classical saxophonist, Timothy McAllister, played three saxophones in one piece. He makes complex music and complicated fingering look easy.

"Really at the core of it, it's a really beautiful work. It's just incredibly athletic," McAllister said.

The piece is so athletic it's titled "Triathlon." It's comprised of three movements each played with a different saxophone, soprano, alto and baritone. It's highly unusual to see them all soloed in one piece.

"We rarely see them in a sequence where each movement has deep challenges that would require us to specialize on every single one of those instruments," McAllister explained.

"Triathlon was written specifically for McAllister by Pulitzer prize winning composer John Gorigliano.

"Every movement has something that I think identifies with a specialty or skill of mine that he heard, that he wanted to bring into the piece," McAllister told CBS News Colorado.

Each movement of the piece also brings out the best of each of the saxophones.

"I think the most tender moments in the second movement that people will hear this incredibly beautiful song essentially touches me the most," he said.

LINK: For tickets and information about the Colorado Music Festival

McAllister is particularly pleased to be playing at the Colorado Music Festival, which is calls one of the best in North America, and in the historic Chautauqua Auditorium.

"The sound in it is stunning."