Times of Trenton interviews Met orch. principal about NJSO solo

The Times of Trenton speaks with Metropolitan Opera Orchestra Principal Clarinet Anthony McGill about his NJSO solo appearance this weekend on a program The Star-Ledger names one of the “Top 5 NJ shows this week.”

McGill gives the New Jersey premiere of Richard Danielpour’s Clarinet Concerto, an NJSO co-commission the composer wrote specifically for McGill. The soloist talks to The Times of Trenton about the character of the concerto, which was inspired by Martin Luther King Jr.:

“[Danielpour and I] sat down together, and he talked to me about kind of what he learned from Andrew Young and his experiences with Dr. King,” McGill says. “His concept for the piece was that he wanted to have the clarinet representing a pastor and the orchestra kind of a choir or congregation, so there’s a little bit of call-and-response.

“It takes you on a journey,” he says. “It starts off, and you think it’s going to be this fast, kind of spirited, dance-like thing, and then he takes you through this improvisatory second movement, just the clarinet and the timpani, which kind of represents the storm coming. You know, there’s this famous speech that Dr. King gave shortly before he passed away, where you can hear thunder rumbling outside. He’s kind of foretelling this tragedy coming, this tragic ending. There’s a little bit of that in the piece.

“I think it’s really emotional. We don’t have very many pieces on the clarinet that are extremely kind of soulful and sad, with really soaring melodies, and this piece has them. As the piece progresses, it gets more beautiful and in a way transforming and just kind of sorrowful.”

Read the full Times of Trenton feature at nj.com.

RELATED: Patrons, soloist buzzing about NJ premiere of new concerto

The NJSO and McGill kicked off the weekend with a concert at bergenPAC in Englewood last night; patrons enjoyed the opportunity to chat with the solo clarinetist at intermission.

Patrons talk with @mcgillab after his tremendous performance of Danielpour's Clarinet Concerto at @BergenPAC. pic.twitter.com/Dq2oCgPQJG

— New Jersey Symphony (@NJSymphony) May 2, 2014