Sunday, October 29, 2023
6 PM* (*Special start time)
This group of superstars makes their first visit to San Diego as a trio, opening the Athenaeum’s season with a bang. Their dynamic program features sonatas by Poulenc along with works by some of today’s most exciting composers, including Missy Mazzoli and Valerie Coleman (whose Portraits of Langston was inspired by the poetry of Langston Hughes*). This special opening concert will be performed without intermission.
The McGill/McHale Trio—clarinetist Anthony McGill, flutist Demarre McGill and pianist Michael McHale—is celebrating its 10th season. The trio was founded when clarinetist Anthony McGill, who in 2014 became the first African-American principal player of the New York Philharmonic, and his brother, Demarre McGill, now principal flute of the Seattle Symphony, were featured artists in a 2014 residency at Bowling Green University in Ohio. Pianist Michael McHale joined them in concert and their partnership was formed.
The concert will include music heard on the Trio's debut album, Portraits—Works for Flute, Clarinet & Piano (Cedille), which entered the Top 25 US Billboard Classical Chart. On the program will be Coleman: Portraits of Langston, a six-movement suite combining music inspired by Langston Hughes’s poetry and Rogerson: A Fish Will Rise, based on Norman Maclean’s best-selling book A River Runs Through It, which evokes rippling water and the sparkling sunset.
McGill / McHale Trio
Anthony McGill, clarinet
Demarre McGill, flute
Michael McHale, piano
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. 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. anthonymcgill.com
Demarre McGill has gained international recognition as a soloist, recitalist, chamber and orchestral musician. Winner of an Avery Fisher Career Grant and the Sphinx Medal of Excellence, he has appeared as soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Seattle, Pittsburgh, Dallas, Grant Park, San Diego and Baltimore symphony orchestras and, at age 15, the Chicago Symphony. Now principal flute of the Seattle Symphony, he previously served as principal flute of the Dallas Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Florida Orchestra, and Santa Fe Opera Orchestra. He served as acting principal flute of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and earlier with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. He is associate professor of Flute at Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and is an artist-faculty member of the Aspen Music Festival and School. In addition to numerous educational activities, he is co-founder and Artistic Director of the Art of Elan and a founding member of the Myriad Trio. The many chamber music festivals in which he has participated include Marlboro, Santa Fe, Seattle, and South Africa’s Stellenbosch Chamber Music Festival. This past November, he performed Michael Tilson Thomas’ Notturno for Flute and Orchestra with the San Francisco Symphony conducted by Maestro Tilson Thomas.
Belfast-born and London-based concert pianist Michael McHale enjoys a busy international career as a recitalist, soloist and chamber musician. He has performed with many major ensembles including the Minnesota and Hallé Orchestras; the City of London Sinfonia; and the Moscow, Bournemouth, and Jacksonville Symphonies. In addition to solo recitals and festival appearances, he collaborates with Sir James Galway, Michael Collins, Barry Douglas, Dame Felicity Lott, and Camerata Pacifica, among others. He is the winner of the Terence Judd/Hallé Award (2009), and was awarded the Brennan and Field Prizes at the 2006 AXA Dublin International Piano Competition, the 2005 Camerata Ireland/Accenture Award, and in 2016 a Major Individual Award from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. He studied at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, the University of Cambridge, and the Royal Academy of Music.
PROGRAM (subject to change)
A Fish Will Rise, Chris Rogerson
Sonata for Flute and Piano, Francis Poulenc
Techno-Parade (2002), Guillaume Connesson
Evocation d'Amour, Augusta Holmes, arr. Michael McHale
Heartbreaker, Missy Mazzoli
Sonata for Clarinet and Piano, Francis Poulenc
*Portraits of Langston, Valerie Coleman
Prelude: Helen Keller
Danse Africaine
Le Grand Duc Mambo
Silver Rain
Jazz Band in a Parisian Cabaret
Harlem's Summer Night
All concerts are preceded by a pre-concert talk at 6:30 p.m.* (*the pre-concert talk for this concert will be at 5:00 p.m.) and are followed by a reception with the artists in the Sharon & Joel Labovitz Entry Hall.
The concerts will be in person at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library. There are no physical tickets for these events. Your name will be on an attendee list at the front door. Doors open at 4:30 p.m. Seating is first-come; first-served. These events will be presented in compliance with State of California and County of San Diego health regulations as applicable at the time of each concert.
Masks optional. If you have a fever, cough, or flu-like symptoms, please stay home.