A spotlight on the passions of world-renowned clarinetist Anthony McGill before his May 11 concert on our stage and “Inside the Concert” talk with former WQXR host Naomi Lewin April 29.
In a year of reckoning over racial injustice, Anthony McGill has used his platform to further his fight. The world-renowned soloist and principal clarinet of the New York Philharmonic, McGill is the first African-American principal player in the organization’s 179 years. His position is historic, though McGill is quick to offer that he stands on the shoulders of the two African-American musicians who preceded him in the orchestra.
In 2020, McGill was awarded the prestigious Avery Fisher Prize for his brilliant virtuosity and longtime commitment to social change. His advocacy for racial justice isn’t new. But the murder of George Floyd marked a watershed moment. McGill’s powerful social media post in response, #TakeTwoKnees, which included his sorrowful minor key rendition of “America the Beautiful,” was his way of urging each of us to join him in his call for equality and justice.
Wind musicians were among the artists most silenced by the pandemic, but McGill created opportunities this year – not only to perform, but to amplify the voices of Black musicians and composers in every way possible. In October, McGill participated in 92Y’s Young Leaders Series, with an interactive conversation with music over Zoom, discussing his work and journey with 150 middle and high school students, many of them from underserved communities. In November, he appeared on our stage in one of the first concerts we presented back in our empty hall. His socially distanced performance alongside a quartet of musicians and friends from the New York Philharmonic featured the sublime Clarinet Quintet by undercelebrated 19th century Black composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor – a work McGill has called “a masterpiece.”
Also in November, McGill was the soloist in Anthony Davis’ You Have the Right to Remain Silent, in a virtual performance with his former orchestra, the Cincinnati Symphony. The work was sparked by Davis’ experience in the mid-70s when, driving with his wife to Boston for a concert, he was pulled over by a police officer, gun drawn. Passages of the music became the basis for Davis’ Pulitzer Prize-winning opera The Central Park 5. McGill says that, when the pandemic shut down the New York Philharmonic season, he jumped at the opportunity to perform You Have the Right to Remain Silent: “I knew right away it was something I had to do,” he told NPR.
This February, McGill and his brother, internationally acclaimed flute soloist and Seattle Symphony principal flute Demarre McGill, served as co-artistic directors of the weeklong Triumph Over Adversity Festival at the Philharmonic Society of Orange County, a free virtual series of concerts and educational and community outreach offerings advocating for social change on and beyond classical music’s stages, spotlighting musicians and composers from marginalized communities.
On May 11, McGill returns to Kaufmann Concert Hall with Met Opera star Susanna Phillips and pianist Myra Huang. This time, in addition to the concert being available for viewing online, a limited audience will be in attendance as part of our “Almost Home” spring series of live events. McGill opens and closes the concert with two exquisite works by Schubert – the beloved Shepherd on the Rock and a melodic gem in the “Arpeggione” sonata. At the center of the program: a piece by pioneering Black composer William Grant Still, and a world premiere by acclaimed, award-winning composer James Lee III, whose music McGill has ardently championed.
Commissioned by 92Y, Dr. Lee’s Chava’s Daughters for Soprano, Clarinet and Piano is a song cycle built on texts by Sister Lou Ella Hickman, inspired by women in the Bible not given the opportunity to have their expressions recorded in the sacred scriptures. Its theme speaks to McGill’s passion for presenting music that makes a statement about justice, equality, equity and respect. McGill will talk about that passion and his upcoming concert in a conversation this Thursday with former WQXR host Naomi Lewin, as part of her new “Inside the Concert” series of up close and personal conversations with artists performing on our stage.
McGill’s commitment to addressing issues of diversity, equity and inclusion in classical music touches every aspect of his work – not only in his performance career, but in his position as artistic director of Juilliard’s Music Advancement Program, dedicated to working with young performers from diverse backgrounds, his broader music education advocacy and more. The underrepresentation of artists and composers of color in the classical music world has prompted its own reckoning. Anthony McGill is dedicated to doing the work that effects real change.
“Inside the Concert” online talk:
Anthony McGill with Naomi Lewin, Thu, Apr 29, 7 PM ET
Concert (in-person & online):
Anthony McGill, Susanna Phillips and Myra Huang, Tue, May 11, 7:30 PM ET