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ABOUT THIS PERFORMANCE
The visionary principal clarinetist of the New York Philharmonic is joined by one of America’s most beloved collaborative pianists and the cellist who took top honors in the 2019 Sphinx Competition.
PROGRAM
Claude Debussy: Rhapsody
James Lee III: Ad Anah?
Adolphus Hailstork: Three smiles for Tracey
Jessie Montgomery: Peace
Robert Schumann: Drei Fantasiestücke
Johannes Brahms: Clarinet Trio in A minor for Clarinet, Cello, and Piano, Op. 114
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Anthony McGill, clarinet
Hailed for his “trademark brilliance, penetrating sound and rich character” (New York Times), clarinetist Anthony McGill enjoys a dynamic international solo and chamber music career and is principal clarinet of the New York Philharmonic — the first African-American principal player in the organization's history. He is the recipient of the 2020 Avery Fisher Prize, one of classical music’s most significant awards, and was named Musical America’s 2024 Instrumentalist of the Year. American Stories, his album with the Pacifica Quartet, was nominated for a GRAMMY® for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance.
McGill appears as a soloist with top orchestras, including the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonics, the Metropolitan Opera, and the Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, and Detroit Symphony Orchestras. He performed alongside Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, and Gabriela Montero at the inauguration of President Barack Obama, premiering a piece by John Williams. As a chamber musician, McGill is a collaborator of the Brentano, Daedalus, Guarneri, JACK, Miró, Pacifica, Shanghai, Takács, and Tokyo Quartets, and performs with leading artists including Emanuel Ax, Inon Barnatan, Gloria Chien, Yefim Bronfman, Gil Shaham, Midori, Mitsuko Uchida, and Lang Lang.
He serves on the faculty of The Juilliard School and is the Artistic Director for Juilliard’s Music Advancement Program. He holds the William R. and Hyunah Yu Brody Distinguished Chair at the Curtis Institute of Music.
In 2020, McGill’s #TakeTwoKnees campaign protesting the death of George Floyd and historic racial injustice went viral. In 2023, he partnered with Bryan Stevenson and the Equal Justice Initiative to organize a classical music industry convening at EJI’s Legacy Museum in Montgomery, Alabama, in which leaders and artists in classical music examined America’s history of racial inequality and how this legacy continues to impact their work. He is a Backun Artist and performs exclusively on Backun Clarinets. anthonymcgill.com
“trademark brilliance, penetrating sound and rich character”
Gloria Chien, piano
Taiwanese-born pianist Gloria Chien leads a diverse musical life as a noted performer, concert presenter, and educator. She made her orchestral debut at age 16 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Thomas Dausgaard and performed with the BSO again under Keith Lockhart.
She was subsequently selected by The Boston Globe as one of its Superior Pianists of the year, “who appears to excel in everything.” In recent seasons, she has performed as a recitalist and chamber musician at Alice Tully Hall, the Library of Congress, Phillips Collection, Dresden Chamber Music Festival, and the National Concert Hall in Taiwan. She performs frequently with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. In 2009, she launched String Theory, a chamber music series in Chattanooga, Tennessee that has become one of the region’s premier classical music presenters. The following year, she was appointed Director of the Chamber Music Institute at Music@Menlo. In 2017, she joined her husband, violinist Soovin Kim, as artistic director of the Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival in Burlington, Vermont. The couple are artistic directors at Chamber Music Northwest in Portland, Oregon. Chien studied extensively at the New England Conservatory of Music with Wha Kyung Byun and Russell Sherman. She is Artist-in-Residence at Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee, and is a Steinway Artist. gloriachien.com
“Throughout the performance, Chien demonstrated an uncanny ability to listen, breathe, and phrase along with Prégardien. Together, the two artists created a sublime evening that will be cherished for a long time.”
Sterling Elliott, cello
Acclaimed for his stellar stage presence and joyous musicianship, cellist Sterling Elliott is a 2021 Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient and the winner of the Senior Division of the 2019 National Sphinx Competition. Already in his young career, he has appeared with major orchestras such as the Philadelphia Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Detroit Symphony and the Dallas Symphony, with noted conductors Yannick Nezet-Seguin, Thomas Wilkins, Jeffrey Kahane, Mei Ann Chen and others. read full bio >
“Elliott’s impeccable musicianship, as well as his discernible love for the music won over the audience, which responded with sustained standing applause.”
