April 24 Chamber Music Concert Explores What It Means to be American
Chamber Music Pittsburgh presents the Grammy–Award-winning Pacifica Quartet with Anthony McGill, principal clarinet of the New York Philharmonic. The concert, part of CMP’s 2022–23 MainStage Live season, takes place on Monday, April 24, at 7:30 p.m. at the Pittsburgh Playhouse in Downtown Pittsburgh.
“The Pacifica Quartet is a spectacular group, known for its leadership in performing new commissions and unusual repertoire,” says Kristen Linfante, Executive Director of Chamber Music Pittsburgh. “This collaboration with Anthony McGill brings new layers to the quartet’s musical contributions, and we are proud to host a program that displays the diversity and range of the chamber music genre through works inspired by what it means to be American.”
“Brilliant” McGill (The New York Times) joins the “phenomenal” (Daily Telegraph) Pacifica Quartet to present a concert that pairs Dvořák’s “American” string quartet with chamber works by three influential Black composers: James Lee III, Florence Price, and Valerie Coleman.
Since McGill joined the Philharmonic in 2014, becoming the orchestra’s first African American principal musician, he has enjoyed a dynamic career within the celebrated New York ensemble and as an international soloist and chamber performer. McGill won the Avery Fisher Prize in 2020, one of classical music’s most significant awards given to soloists, and is an avid champion of new music.
The Pacifica Quartet has achieved international recognition as one of the finest chamber ensembles performing today. The quartet is known for its virtuosity, exuberant performance style, and daring repertory choices, earning praise from audiences and media alike.
McGill has collaborated with the Pacifica Quartet many times, most recently to record American Stories, a 2022 album featuring works by Richard Danielpour, James Lee III, Benjamin J. Shirley, and Valerie Coleman. American Stories was hailed as “a striking example of the ensemble’s mastery of interpretation and the players’ clear eagerness to try new things” (Strings Magazine).
The Pacifica Quartet features Simin Ganatra on violin, Austin Hartman on violin, Mark Holloway on viola, and Brandon Vamos on cello.
Individual tickets can be purchased online.
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