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Hailed for his “trademark brilliance, penetrating sound and rich character” (The New York
Times), 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.
As a chamber musician, McGill is a favorite collaborator of the Brentano, Daedalus, Guarneri,
JACK, Miró, Pacifica, Shanghai, Takács, and Tokyo Quartets, as well as Inon Barnatan, Gloria Chien, Yefim Bronfman, Gil Shaham, Midori, Mitsuko Uchida, and Lang Lang. He has toured with
Musicians from Marlboro and regularly performs for the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln
Center and the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society. His festival appearances include Bravo!
Vail, Marlboro, Mainly Mozart, Ravinia, Skaneateles, Tanglewood, and the Music@Menlo, Santa
Fe, and Seattle Chamber Music Festivals.
McGill is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, and previously served as the Principal
Clarinet of the Metropolitan Opera and Associate Principal Clarinet of the Cincinnati Symphony
Orchestra.
He is an ardent advocate for helping music education reach underserved communities and for
addressing issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion in classical music. He serves on the faculty of
The Juilliard School and also at the Curtis Institute of Music, where he holds the William R. and
Hyunah Yu Brody Distinguished Chair. He is the Artistic Director for Juilliard’s Music
Advancement Program, a weekend program dedicated to students who demonstrate a
commitment to artistic excellence, which actively seeks young musicians from backgrounds
underrepresented in classical music.
In 2021, The Juilliard School announced a permanent endowment grant of $50 million for its
Music Advancement Program (MAP) from Crankstart, which funds full-tuition scholarships for all MAP students and program expansion. In 2020, in concert with a $30,000 charitable gift from
the Avery Fisher Artist Program designated to a charity of McGill’s choice, McGill and Weston
Sprott, Dean of the Preparatory Division of The Juilliard School, established the Weston Sprott
and Anthony McGill MAP Summer Scholarship Fund so MAP students can take part in summer
programs and festivals.
Since 2023, he has partnered with Bryan Stevenson and the Equal Justice Initiative to organize
classical music industry convenings at EJI’s Legacy Museum in Montgomery, Alabama, in which
leaders and artists in classical music examined America’s history of racial inequality and how
this legacy continues to impact their work. On Juneteenth 2024, he was invited by the Equal
Justice Initiative (EJI) to perform at the dedication of the National Monument to Freedom.
In the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, McGill launched a powerful
musical protest campaign urging people to #TakeTwoKnees in demonstration against the death
of George Floyd and historic racial injustice. His viral video encouraged hundreds of artists and
citizens who amplified the message and responded to the protest with their own videos using
the hashtag #TakeTwoKnees.
McGill has been covered in The New York Times and The New Yorker and has appeared on CBS
Sunday Morning, PBS, National Public Radio, Performance Today, From the Top, and Mister
Rogers’ Neighborhood. He has served as the Artist-in-Residence for WQXR.
McGill recorded the Nielsen Clarinet Concerto with Alan Gilbert and the New York
Philharmonic. With the Pacifica Quartet he has released two albums, American Stories – featuring works by Valerie Coleman, Richard Danielpour, James Lee III, and Ben Shirley
chronicling unique perspectives shaped by the American experience – and also Mozart and
Brahms Clarinet Quintets.
He and his brother, Demarre McGill, joined the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras & Allen
Tinkham, to record Winged Creatures, an album of works for flute, clarinet, and orchestra.
Demarre and Anthony also recorded Portraits with pianist Michael McHale.
Anthony and pianist Gloria Chien, who are longtime friends and frequent recital partners,
released Here With You, an album of favorite works by Brahms, Weber, and Montgomery.
McGill’s self-titled debut recording, also recorded with Chien, features early 20th century works
by Gershwin, Rachmaninoff, Debussy, and Poulenc.
McGill serves on the board of directors for Cedille Records and the Harmony Program, and on
the advisory councils for the InterSchool Orchestras of New York and Time In Children's Arts
Initiative. He is a Backun Artist and performs exclusively on Backun Clarinets.
Mr. McGill played with his trademark brilliance, penetrating sound and rich character.
