Three prestigious classical musicians — pianist Inon Barnatan, clarinet player Anthony McGill and cellist Alisa Weilerstein — will demonstrate how they make beautiful music together with a performance of three pieces at 7:30 p.m. Monday in Schwab Auditorium.
The concert is part of the Center for the Performing Arts Classical Music Project, which is supported by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, according to a press release from Penn State.
The program will feature Ludwig van Beethoven’s Trio in B-flat Major, Op. 11, “Gassenhauer”; Johannes Brahms’ Trio in A minor, Op. 114; and Joseph Hallman’s “Short Stories.” The piece by Hallman, a Philadelphia native and 2014 Grammy-nominated composer, is co-commissioned by the Center for the Performing Arts through its membership in the national consortium Music Accord and is being debuted on this tour.
Barnatan is called “one of the most admired pianists of his generation” by The New York Times and a “born Schubertian” by Gramophone. The Israeli native has studied and performed alongside some of the 20th century’s most distinguished instructors, conductors and orchestras throughout the world.
Barnatan is in his final season of a three-year artist-in-association with the New York Philharmonic, for which he performs as a soloist and acts as an ambassador. This year, he will embark on three tours, including the trio program with McGill and frequent recital partner Weilerstein.
McGill, principal clarinetist for the New York Philharmonic, often performs as a soloist with orchestras throughout the country and is known as one of the few black artists to hold a principal position in a major orchestra.
In a review of one of his first concert performances after a decade with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, The New York Times described McGill’s playing as “trademark brilliance, penetrating sound and rich character.”
In 2009, cellist Yo-Yo Ma chose McGill to round out a quartet, also featuring pianist Gabriele Montero, Ma and violinist Itzhak Perlman, to perform for President Barack Obama’s inauguration.
Weilerstein, a 2011 MacArthur Fellowship “Genius Grant” recipient, is the first cellist in 30 years to be signed to an exclusive recording contract with Decca Classics. BBC Music named her first release on that label — which features her interpretation of Edward Elgar’s Cello Concerto as performed with pianist Daniel Barenboim and Staatskapelle Berlin — Recording of the Year in 2013. Weilerstein has performed with world-renowned orchestras and is a champion of contemporary composers, including Hallman, who wrote “Short Stories” especially for her. In 2009, she performed in a classical music event at the White House, by personal invitation from first lady Michelle Obama. She also makes a cameo in the 2014 film “If I Stay,” of which the soundtrack features the cellist’s performance of Zoltán Kodály’s solo sonata.
Tickets information is available at the Center for the Performing Arts website.
