ORLANDO, Fla. – A New York Philharmonic musician making history is coming to Central Florida to perform and inspire students to do the same.
Anthony McGill, the New York Philharmonic’s principal clarinetist, has been all over the world with the orchestra, but will be spending the week after Valentine’s Day performing with the Orlando Philharmonic.
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McGill, who also performs as the New York Philharmonic’s first Black principal, said he loves playing with the country’s oldest orchestra.
“It’s been around for about 180 years... It’s a wonderful job and a dream job,” McGill said. “Music and art, and even... some of the youth concerts in Orlando, theatre and acting can bring together a whole new life of beauty and imagination for kids. So it just exposes you to something that is so different that can take you away from where you are and let you imagine where you can be in the future.”
McGill said every time he steps onto the stage, he wants to inspire students to chase their dreams. He is likely a familiar face to Central Florida students who have seen the Young People’s Concerts. McGill appeared in a virtual version during the pandemic, playing a villain whose clarinet had been stolen.
”But I happen to find my dear clarinet again so all was forgiven,” he said.
McGill will bring his expertise to the stage starting Thursday, Feb. 16 at 7 p.m.
“So there are some small chamber music things, which means just a group of five musicians or three musicians,” he said. “People will love those as well as some of the big performances I’m doing with the full orchestra. So there’s a variety of things I’m doing while I’m down there. I hope people will come out because I think it’s going to be really special performances.”
And McGill added that whether you pursue a career in music or not, studying the arts has far-reaching benefits.
“When you’re able to pursue your dreams 100%, you never know what could happen at the end of that,” he said. “So many of the successful people in the world I meet happen to have been exposed to music and the arts, in addition to math and science and sports. And all of those people know that it has taught them so much about other fields.”
To find out more about when McGill will perform at the Orlando Philharmonic, click here.
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