Celebrating Heritage: Fleur Barron, Anthony McGill, and Gloria Chien Present a Captivating Trio Program Featuring Diverse Works from Composers Across Cultures
Fleur Barron, Anthony McGill and Gloria Chien are excited to offer a program on the theme of “Heritage”, featuring works composed or arranged expressly for their trio. One centerpiece is “Gulistan”, a joyful and poignant 20-minute cycle by Iranian-American composer Kian Ravaei (b.1999), based on Azerbaijani, Persian, American and English folk music. Another is a new arrangement of Brahms op.91 by Ravaei – heard for the first time with clarinet! Other major voices on the program include Florence Price, in a selection of 4 songs for trio, and arrangements of Nina Simone songs – a musical idol for all three performers -- showcasing the trio’s versatility across diverse styles. Rounding out the program are commissions by Valerie Coleman (b.1970) exploring connections between the Harlem Renaissance and France, Gabriel Kahane (b.1981), and a dramaturgical piece by Alex Ho (b.1997).
Anthony McGill, clarinet
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.
Musical America named him the 2024 Instrumentalist of the Year. He is the recipient of the 2020 Avery Fisher Prize, one of classical music’s most significant awards given in recognition of soloists who represent the highest level of musical excellence. McGill was honored to take part in the 2009 inauguration of President Barack Obama, premiering a piece written for the occasion by John Williams.
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. This season he’ll make his Los Angeles Philharmonic debut performing “You Have the Right to Remain Silent” by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Anthony Davis, conducted by John Adams, and will also perform the work with the Britten Sinfonia during his time serving as the Barbican Centre’s Milton Court Artist-in-Residence. He’ll open the Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s season as well as the Indianapolis Symphony and St. Paul Chamber Orchestra.
McGill 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. 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.
Fleur Barron, mezzo soprano
Singaporean-British mezzo Fleur Barron recently triumphed at the San Francisco Symphony in the title role of Kaija Saariaho’s opera Adriana Mater in a production helmed by Peter Sellars and Esa-Pekka Salonen, and at the Aix-en-Provence Festival as Ottavia in Monterverdi’s L’Incoronazione di Poppea. She is an Artistic Partner of the Orquesta Sinfonica del Principado de Asturias in Oviedo, for which she will curate and perform multiple projects across several seasons.
In the 2024-2025 season, Fleur has a series of important symphonic debuts with Mahler as the focus. She sings “Das Lied von der Erde” with three different orchestras: on tourwith Daniel Harding and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra; on tour with Hardingand the Swedish Radio Philharmonic; and with Kent Nagano and the PhilharmonischesStaatsorchester Hamburg at the Elbphilharmonie. She teams up again with Harding and the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia for Mahler Symphony no.2, Nathalie Stutzmann and the Atlanta Symphony for “Des Knaben Wunderhorn”, and the Rückert Lieder with PhilZuid under Lin Liao. Fleur also returns to the Mahler Festival at Amsterdam’s Het Concertgebouw for two recitals with Julius Drake featuring Mahler’s songs. Further symphonic engagements in 24-25 include Concepcion in Ravel’s “L’Heure Espagnole” with the Barcelona Symphony under Ludovic Morlot, Comrade Chin in Huang Ruo’s “M. Butterfly” in a semi-staged production at the Barbican with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, orchestrated Schubert Lieder with the Orquestra Sinfonica del Principado de Asturias, and Lieberson’s “Neruda Songs” with the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra.
2024-25 also sees significant recital debuts, including a 6-city tour of the U.S. with pianist Kunal Lahiry, including Carnegie Hall; a U.S. tour and residency at Harvard University with the Parker Quartet, and further recitals with Julius Drake and Kunal Lahiry at Wigmore Hall, Boulez Saal Berlin, Hugo Wolf Akademie Stuttgart, Helsinki Seriös, Chamber Music Northwest in Portland, and Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, among others.
Fleur is committed to the way music can facilitate cross-cultural dialogue and healing. She is passionate about curating inclusive chamber music programming that amplifies the voices of diverse communities. Born in Northern Ireland to a Singaporean mother and British father, Fleur grew up in Hong Kong, London and New York.
Gloria Chien, piano
Taiwanese-born pianist Gloria Chien has one of the most diverse musical lives as a noted performer, concert presenter, and educator. She made her orchestral debut at the age of sixteen with the Boston Symphony Orchestra with Thomas Dausgaard, and she performed again with the BSO with Keith Lockhart. She was subsequently selected by the The Boston Globe as one of its Superior Pianists of the year, “who appears to excel in everything.” In recent seasons, she has performed as a recitalist and chamber musician at Alice Tully Hall, the Library of Congress, the Phillips Collection, the Dresden Chamber Music Festival, and the National Concert Hall in Taiwan. She performs frequently with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.
In 2009, she launched String Theory, a chamber music series in Chattanooga, Tennessee that has become one of the region’s premier classical music presenters. The following year she was appointed Director of the Chamber Music Institute at Music@Menlo, a position she held for the next decade. In 2017, she joined her husband, violinist Soovin Kim, as artistic director of the Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival in Burlington, Vermont. The duo became artistic directors at Chamber Music Northwest in Portland, OR in 2020. They were named recipients of Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Award for Extraordinary Service in 2021 for their efforts during the pandemic.
Most recently, Gloria released two albums - her Gloria Chien LIVE from the Music@Menlo LIVE label and Here With You with acclaimed clarinetist Anthony McGill on Cedille Records. Gloria received her bachelor, masters and doctoral degrees at the New England Conservatory of Music. She is Artist-in-Residence at Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee, and a Steinway Artist.
Contact Us
We invite you to contact us now about finding a date to bring Anthony McGill, Fleur Barron, and Gloria Chien to your series in the 2025/26 season.