Anthony McGill

Week of January 30, 2027

Hailed for his “trademark brilliance, penetrating sound and rich character” (The New YorkTimes), clarinetist Anthony McGill is one of classical music’s most recognizable and brilliantly multifaceted figures. In addition to his dynamic international solo and chamber music career, McGill is Principal Clarinet of the New York Philharmonic—the first African-American principal player in the organization’s history.

McGill appears regularly 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. Highlights of the 2025–26 season include solo appearances with the New York Philharmonic; the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, where he and his brother Demarre McGill will premiere a new concerto for clarinet and flute by Billy Childs under the direction of Jonathon Heyward; The Knights at Carnegie Hall; and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in premiere performances of Gabriel Kahane’s If love will not swing wide the gates. As a chamber musician, McGill tours with Trio Afiori — a new ensemble he co-founded with mezzo-soprano Fleur Barron and pianist Gloria Chien — for a weeklong residency with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and performances at Chamber Music Northwest and across the U.S., featuring the premiere of a new work by Valerie Coleman. Additional chamber music highlights include The Annual Isaac Stern Memorial Concert at Carnegie Hall alongside Maxim Vengerov, Vilde Frang, James Ehnes, Daniel Müller-Schott, and Yefim Bronfman; continuing his decades-long collaboration with the Pacifica Quartet; performances with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center; and recital appearances in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and beyond.