Pacifica Quartet and Anthony McGill, clarinet

FCM favorite, the multiple Grammy Award-winning Pacifica Quartet will be joined by Anthony McGill, Principal Clarinetist of the New York Philharmonic.  This performance will feature the magnificent Brahms Clarinet Quintet and the much-anticipated Colorado premiere of Ben Shirley’s clarinet quintet, High Sierra Sonata, commissioned by Friends of Chamber Music.

PRE-CONCERT TALK: The evening will begin at 6:30 PM with a pre-concert talk featuring composer Ben Shirley.  Ben is an accomplished concert composer, film composer, orchestrator, and musician whose atypical path to success informs his music. A touring musician for over 25 years, a drug and alcohol addiction drove him into homelessness. Ben sought refuge at the Midnight Mission, in Los Angeles’ notorious Skid Row. He returned to school and rebuilt his musical life.  He was accepted into the prestigious San Francisco Conservatory of Music and is an alumnus of the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music.

Note: This concert will be live-streamed; tickets are available through the “Buy Tickets” link.

Click here for complete concert program.

MASTERCLASSES:  Two masterclasses will also be presented, free and open to the public.  Anthony McGill will present a masterclass on April 25, 1 – 3:30 PM, and the Pacifica Quartet will present a masterclass on April 26, noon – 2 PM.  Both will be held in Gates Concert Hall, Newman Center for the Performing Arts.