ArtsWatch

Clarinetist Anthony McGill joins Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman and pianist Gabriela Montero tomorrow in a new work of John Williams just before Obama takes the oath.
McGill, 29, a 2000 Curtis grad who is now a principal clarinetist in the Metropolitan Opera orchestra, said this was "probably the greatest thing I’ve eve been a part of. It is humongous, to be a part of history, any inauguration. This one especially has a little bit of special meaning personally. It’s hard to even talk about it still."
The piece by Williams - he who writes Olympic themes and some most excellent movie scores - is about five minutes long.
"Not to sound cheesy, but definitely once you hear it you know what I am talk about: it sounds like America. It does," said McGill, who grew up in Chicago and moved away for school in 1994.
It's open, it's free, it has a lot of different, very American sounding music. And in its beginning it’s almost sorrowful and in the end triumphant. And yet there’s a lot of nostalgia in the piece as well. Once you recognize the melody, it sounds very American in the best sense of the word."
McGill has played with Yo-Yo Ma before. In 2001, with pianist Mitsuko Uchida, they collaborated on Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time.
"I wanted to play with him again for a long time," said McGill.
Seven or eight years later, not a bad encore.
Here's a review of a recital McGill played here in 2005.