The McGill/McHale Trio was formed in September 2014 during a residency at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, where clarinetist Anthony McGill and his brother, flutist Demarre McGill, were featured artists. It was there that they performed for the first time with pianist Michael McHale, and their musical chemistry was immediately evident. The trio’s distinctive instrumentation offers a unique and rarely explored repertoire, setting them apart in the chamber music world.
Selected works by James LEE III, VILLA-LOBOS, COLEMAN, WALLEN, and BACH
Hailed for his “trademark brilliance, penetrating sound and rich character” (New York Times), clarinetist Anthony McGill enjoys a dynamic international solo and chamber music career and is principal clarinet of the New York Philharmonic — the first African-American principal player in the organization’s history. He is the recipient of the 2020 Avery Fisher Prize, one of classical music’s most significant awards, and was named Musical America’s 2024 Instrumentalist of the Year.
McGill appears 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. In the 2024-25 season, he makes his BBC Proms debut performing Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra & Gemma New.
Also this season, McGill embarks on a multi-city tour with Emanuel Ax. He joins the performance and recording project Principal Brothers featuring his brother, Demarre McGill, as well as Titus Underwood and Bryan Young, four leading Black American woodwind principals performing the works of three prominent Black composers: James Lee III, Valerie Coleman, and Errollyn Wallen.
He performed alongside Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, and Gabriela Montero at the inauguration of President Barack Obama. American Stories, his album with the Pacifica Quartet, was nominated for a GRAMMY®. He has been a collaborator of the Miró, Pacifica, Shanghai, and Takács Quartets, and performs with leading artists including Inon Barnatan, Gloria Chien, Yefim Bronfman, Gil Shaham, Midori, Mitsuko Uchida, and Lang Lang.
He serves on the faculty of The Juilliard School and is Artistic Director for Juilliard’s Music Advancement Program. He holds the William R. and Hyunah Yu Brody Distinguished Chair at the Curtis Institute of Music.
McGill’s #TakeTwoKnees campaign protesting the death of George Floyd went viral, reaching thousands of individuals. He was invited by the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) to perform at the dedication of the National Monument to Freedom. Since 2023, he has partnered with civil rights leader Bryan Stevenson to organize EJI classical music industry convenings examining America’s history of racial inequality in Montgomery, Alabama.
He is a Backun Artist and performs exclusively on Backun Clarinets. anthonymcgill.com
Demarre McGill has gained international recognition as one of today’s most compelling flutists, celebrated for his lyrical expressiveness and technical prowess. A recipient of both the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant and the Sphinx Medal of Excellence, McGill has appeared as a soloist with many of the nation’s leading orchestras, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the San Francisco, Seattle, Pittsburgh, Dallas, Grant Park, San Diego, Chicago, and Baltimore Symphony Orchestras. His captivating performances have earned him critical acclaim and a distinguished place in the world of classical music.
Currently serving as the principal flute of the Seattle Symphony, McGill has previously held principal flute positions with the Dallas Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Florida Orchestra, and Santa Fe Opera Orchestra. He has also served as acting principal flute with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.
As an educator, Demarre McGill is committed to inspiring and nurturing the next generation of musicians. He has coached and presented master classes in South Africa, South Korea, Japan, Quebec, and throughout the United States. He has served on the faculties of the National Youth Orchestra of the United States, the National Orchestral Institute at the University of Maryland, the Orford Music Festival, Summerfest at the Curtis Institute of Music, Sarasota Music Festival, and the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival in South Africa. Previously, McGill spent seven years as the Associate Professor of Flute at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and has been a longtime artist-faculty member of the Aspen Music Festival and School since 2017.
Demarre McGill is also a founding member of the Myriad Trio and a former member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Bowers Program. He is the co-founder of the Art of Élan and is a regular participant in prestigious chamber music festivals such as Santa Fe, Marlboro, Seattle, and Stellenbosch. In 2014, McGill co-founded the McGill/McHale Trio with his brother clarinetist Anthony McGill and pianist Michael McHale. Their debut CD, “Portraits,” released in August 2017, has received rave reviews, as has “Winged Creatures,” his recording with Anthony McGill and the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra.
As a champion of accessibility, inclusion, and artistic innovation in classical music, Demarre McGill actively promotes the works of underrepresented composers and engages in projects that highlight diverse cultural perspectives. His media credits include appearances on PBS’s Live from Lincoln Center, A&E Network’s The Gifted Ones, NBC’s Today Show, NBC Nightly News, and, along with his brother Anthony, on Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood.
Born in Chicago, Demarre McGill began playing the flute at age 7 and attended the Merit School of Music. In the years that followed, he studied with Susan Levitin. Demarre received his bachelor’s degree from The Curtis Institute of Music and a master’s degree from The Juilliard School. Demarre McGill is a Yamaha Performing Artist.
Belfast-born Michael McHale has established himself as one of Ireland’s leading pianists and has developed a busy international career as a solo recitalist, concerto soloist and chamber musician.
He has performed and recorded as a soloist with the Minnesota and Hallé Orchestras, the Moscow, Bournemouth, Jacksonville, Fort Smith, BBC and London Symphony Orchestras, City of London Sinfonia, London Mozart Players and all five of the major Irish orchestras. He has performed at the Tanglewood, BBC Proms and Tokyo Spring Festivals, Barbican, Cadogan Hall and Southbank Centre, London, Berlin Konzerthaus, Lincoln Center, New York, Symphony Hall, Boston, Concertgebouw, Amsterdam and regular appearances at Wigmore Hall, London as a founding member of the Wigmore Soloists.
Michael’s début solo album The Irish Piano was released in 2012 by RTÉ lyric fm and selected as ‘CD of the Week’ by the critic Norman Lebrecht. More recent solo releases include Schubert: Four Impromptus on Ergodos, Irish Piano Concertos on RTÉ lyric fm, Miniatures and Modulations on Grand Piano and the Strauss ‘Burleske’ on Chandos. His discography of over thirty albums includes releases on Delos, Nimbus Alliance, Champs Hill, and eight duo recital albums on Chandos with clarinettist Michael Collins. The début album of the McGill/McHale Trio Portraits on Cedille featuring special narrations by Oscar-winner Mahershala Ali was released in 2017 and immediately entered the Top 25 US Billboard Classical Chart. Recent releases include a recording of Richard Rodney Bennett’s Piano Concerto with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and conductor John Wilson for Chandos and Clarinet Trios for BIS.
A commitment to new music has seen Michael give first performances and recordings of music by composers including Valentin Silvestrov, Valerie Coleman, John Tavener, Arvo Pärt, Tyshawn Sorey, Chris Rogerson, Abbie Betinis, Bill Whelan, Siobhán Cleary, Edward Gregson, Jennifer Walshe, Cliff Eidelman, Luke Bedford and Linda Buckley, as well as concerto world premières by Irish composers Garrett Sholdice (with Gábor Takács-Nagy and the Irish Chamber Orchestra) and Philip Hammond (with Nicholas Collon and the Ulster Orchestra for BBC Radio 3).
Winner of the Terence Judd/Hallé Award in 2009, Michael was also awarded the Brennan and Field Prizes at the 2006 AXA Dublin International Piano Competition, the 2005 Camerata Ireland/Accenture Award, and in 2016 a Major Individual Award from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. He studied at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, Cambridge University and the Royal Academy of Music, and his teachers and mentors include John O’Conor, Réamonn Keary, Christopher Elton, Ronan O’Hora and Barry Douglas.
In 2017 Michael was invited to become a Patron of the Ulster Youth Orchestra, and in 2018 he was appointed lecturer in piano for undergraduate and postgraduate students at the MTU Cork School of Music in Ireland in addition to which he regularly gives masterclasses and adjudicates competitions in the USA, Ireland and the UK. In 2023 he was appointed an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music