ONNY ANNOUNCES 34TH SEASON OF LIVE CONCERTS

POTSDAM – The North Country’s only year-round professional symphony orchestra will open its 34th season on October 30th with a live, in-person performance featuring Anthony McGill, Principal Clarinetist of the New York Philharmonic, performing Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto in A Major, K. 622.

The Orchestra of Northern New York presents Mozart and McGill, at 7:30 PM, Saturday, October 30th in Hosmer Hall, SUNY Potsdam and at 3 PM, Sunday, October 31 in First Presbyterian Church, Washington St., Watertown.

The program also includes Mozart’s Overture to Cosi fan tutte, K. 588; Herbert’s Elegy: In Memoriam Stephen Lawrence (1999); and Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 in Eb Major, Op. 73, Mvt 1, Allegro.

Clarinetist Anthony McGill is one of classical music’s most recognizable and brilliantly multifaceted figures. He serves as the principal clarinet of the New York Philharmonic, that orchestra’s first African-American principal player. Hailed for his “trademark brilliance, penetrating sound and rich character” (The New York Times), as well as for his “exquisite combination of technical refinement and expressive radiance” (The Baltimore Sun), McGill also serves as an ardent advocate for helping music education reach underserved communities. McGill was honored to take part in the inauguration of President Obama, premiering a piece by John Williams alongside violinist Itzhak Perlman, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and pianist Gabriela Montero. McGill appears regularly as a soloist with top orchestras around North America including the New York Philharmonic, Metropolitan Opera, Baltimore Symphony, San Diego Symphony, and Kansas City Symphony, and is a favorite collaborator of the Brentano, Daedalus, Guarneri, JACK, Miró, Pacifica, Shanghai, Takacs, and Tokyo Quartets, as well as Emanuel Ax, Inon Barnatan, Yefim Bronfman, Gil Shaham, Midori, Mitsuko Uchida, and Lang Lang. A graduate of the Curtis Institute, McGill previously served as the principal clarinet of the Metropolitan Opera. He serves on the faculty of the Juilliard School, the Curtis Institute of Music, Bard College’s Conservatory of Music, and the Manhattan School of Music.

ONNY’s season continues December 17 – 19 with COMFORT AND JOY, as the Orchestra celebrates the season with holiday favorites such as Sleigh Ride, selections from The Nutcracker, Fantasia on Greensleeves, and a musical voyage and reading of The Night Before Christmas.

Due to financial constraints, there will not be a Baroque concert this winter.

In the spring, ONNY will present THE MAGNIFICENCE OF THE EARTH, featuring the premiere of a new work by composer Gregory Wanamaker, “Still Life in Motion,” commissioned specifically for ONNY and made possible by an Individual Artist Program grant from the New York State Council on the Arts. The program also includes Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture (Fingals Cave), Op. 26; Rutter’s Distant Land (1991), and Milhaud’s La Creation du monde, Op. 81a (1922-23). The spring concert also features a work by freshman Constantine Darie and his work, Waves. The concert will be performed at 7:30 PM, April 2 in SUNY Potsdam’s Hosmer Hall and at 3 PM, April 3 in Watertown’s First Presbyterian Church.

ONNY closes out it season with its ever-popular summer Pops concert, next year, celebrating ADVENTURES IN SPACE! Join the Orchestra for its annual salute to veterans and active military personnel on the first half of the program. Then enjoy music about space for the second half of the concert, including selections from Star Trek, Apollo 13, Star Wars, and more!

A second new work funded by the Flynn Family Foundation and created by noted composer Paul Siskind will be presented in honor of the grandmother of Mrs. Geraldine Flynn, Poquoson, VA. “Anna’s Song” will be a pastoral piece depicting the wide-open spaces of the St. Lawrence River Valley where the family settled generations ago.

Adult tickets remain at the 2019 price of $27/person. A $3 discount per ticket is available for seniors, military personnel and veterans and, new this year, to all first responders and healthcare workers as a small token of ONNY’s appreciation for all they have done during the pandemic.

Other single tickets are $10 for college students with I.D., $5 for teens (13-17), and FREE for children (12 and under). Season tickets are also available at a 15% discount.

For more information or to purchase season or single concert tickets, visit www.onny.org, Brick & Mortar Music, 15 Market Street in Potsdam, or the box office in the Performing Arts Center at SUNY Potsdam. One may also call 315-267-2277.