Anthony McGill, principal clarinet of the New York Philharmonic, performs his own arrangement of America the Beautiful at home.
Anthony McGill, principal clarinet at the New York Philharmonic and a member of the board of the League of American Orchestras, has posted a music video to protest the death of George Floyd and racial injustice. Floyd, 46, died in custody on May 25 when a white policeman in Minneapolis pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes even as Floyd said he could not breathe. McGill’s 1-1/2-minute video, in which he performs his own arrangement of America the Beautiful, received over 50,000 views in less than two days. At the end, Mr. McGill falls to both knees with his arms behind his back. His video is accompanied by a personal post encouraging people to #TakeTwoKnees in support of the struggle for justice and decency. McGill’s video has prompted similar videos by artists including Aaron Flagg, tenor Lawrence Brownlee; Demarre McGill, Seattle Symphony’s principal flute and Anthony McGill’s brother; composer and flutist Allison Loggins-Hill; Weston Sprott, trombonist in the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and dean of the Juilliard School’s Preparatory Division. McGill’s #TakeTwoKnees video can be seen on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Several other classical-music artists have issued artistic responses to the situation. Violinist/composer Daniel Bernard Roumain has posted a Declaration and Affirmation of Love for Black People on his Facebook page. Trumpet player Aaron A. Flagg, chair and associate director of Jazz Studies at the Juilliard School, posted a performance of America the Beautiful and What Did I Do To Be So Black and Blue on his Facebook page. Composer Charles D. Dickerson III, executive director and conductor of Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles (ICYOLA), has released new video to accompany a prior performance of his composition This Is Why We Kneel. The music was performed by ICYOLA in 2018, when the orchestra gave an award to football quarterback and civil rights activist Colin Kaepernick. Dickerson’s video is on Vimeo and Facebook. Roumain, Flagg, and Dickerson are on the board of directors of the League of American Orchestras.
