On Tue., April 19 at Hodgson Concert Hall, the Franklin College Chamber Music Series concludes with one of the loveliest of all Romantic works, Brahms’s autumnal Clarinet Quintet. The Pacifica String Quartet is joined by one of the most prominent Black orchestral musicians in the U.S., Anthony McGill, principal clarinetist of the New York Philharmonic. Their program also includes music by Prokofiev and the Quintet for Clarinet and String Quartet by rising Black American composer, pianist, and educator James Lee III.
Recognized for its virtuosity, exuberance, and daring repertory choices, the 2020 and 2008 Grammy Award-winning Pacifica Quartet has achieved international recognition as one of the finest chamber ensembles performing today. Formed in 1994, the ensemble quickly won chamber music’s top competitions, including the 1998 Naumburg Chamber Music Award. For its first appearance for UGA Presents, the quartet is joined by the brilliantly multifaceted McGill, Principal Clarinet of the New York Philharmonic, who impressed Athens audiences in his 2016 Ramsey Hall debut.
“The playing is so suave, so gleamingly elegant and so full of textural riches that you can almost imagine yourself hearing these pieces for the first time. McGill especially is a joy,” San Francisco Chronicle critic Joshua Kosman wrote of the Pacifica/McGill recording of the Brahms and Mozart clarinet quintets. “In all, this is a keeper.”
The prolific Lee (b. 1975) has a wealth of premieres and other performances this season, given by such ensembles as the Atlanta, Baltimore, Detroit, and St. Louis symphony orchestras. His clarinet quintet, he writes, “is a four-movement work inspired by historical aspects of indigenous Americas … There are also many moments when I try to imitate an Indian pow wow.”
There is a pre-performance talk in Ramsey Concert Hall at 6:45 p.m. (free admission).
Classical music at UGA Presents continues as the Atlanta Symphony returns to Hodgson Concert Hall Sun., May 1. Two soloists, violinist David Coucheron and harpist Elisabeth Remy Johnson, will be heard in Max Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy, and conductor Donald Runnicles leads Beethoven’s Eroica” Symphony. That concert is during the Performing Arts Center’s 25th anniversary week, which begins with an Sun., April 24 performance by six-time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald.
For each of these UGA Presents performances, 25 tickets are available for just $25, to mark the 25th anniversary of the Performing Arts Center. Tickets for UGA students are always $10.
For a complete list of UGA Presents performances, click here.
Three Ways to Order Tickets
- Purchase tickets online 24/7 online here.
- Call the Performing Arts Center Box Office at (706) 542-4400, Mon.-Fri., 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
- Visit the UGA Performing Arts Center Box Office, Mon.-Fri., 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (5 minute parking is available in the drop off circle at the Performing Arts Center for purchasing or picking up tickets.)
COVID protocols
For information about the Performing Arts Center’s current COVID-19 protocols, click here. Flexible ticketing will be in place for all performances occurring through May 2022. Patrons may exchange tickets for another performance or receive a full refund until 12:00 p.m. on the day of the performance, if occurring on a weekday, or by Friday at 5:00 p.m. if occurring on a weekend.