Thursday, July 24, 2025
7:30–9:30 p.m.
General Admission—starting at $30.60 for adults, $15.30 for students
Arkell Pavilion

Few instruments evoke the human voice with such range and nuance as the clarinet, and even fewer performers achieve the distinction of Anthony McGill, Principal Clarinetist of the New York Philharmonic. Recipient of the 2020 Avery Fisher Prize and named 2024 Instrumentalist of the Year by Musical America, McGill is a musician whose “trademark brilliance, penetrating sound and rich character” (The New York Times) burnish everything he plays. McGill will be joined by violinist Philip Setzer, the MMF Young Artists Strings and MMF returning favorites Edward Arron (cello) and Jeewon Park (piano) for Prokofiev’s Overture on Hebrew Themes and Brahms’ Trio for Clarinet, Cello and Piano. The program concludes with Mozart’s exquisite Clarinet Quintet, a late work considered by many to be his greatest chamber music piece.

For its 51st season, the Manchester Music Festival brings big talent and bold stories to the Arkell Pavilion at Southern Vermont Arts Center, for “Music and Storytelling,” July 10-August 7, 2025.

Under the leadership of Artistic Director Philip Setzer, famously of the Emerson String Quartet, this year’s Festival presents a range of celebrated artists, including Emmy Award Winner David Strathairn; GRAMMY Award-winning soprano Christine Goerke of The Metropolitan Opera; Anthony McGill, Principal Clarinet, New York Philharmonic; Emi Ferguson, Principal Flute, Handel & Haydn Society; Michael Stephen Brown, Piano and Avery Fisher Career Grant Recipient; Paul Neubauer, Viola, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center; Sherezade Panthaki, Soprano, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra; Paul Watkins, Cello, Emerson String Quartet; Gregg August, Bass, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra; and the MMF Young Artists.

Audiences will experience iconic works: Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet, Beethoven’s Kreutzer Sonata, Mendelssohn’s Octet, Schubert’s Trout Quintet, Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale, and so much more, including free family concerts. Fifty-one years on, the Festival continues to be a cultural cornerstone and one of Vermont’s must-visit summer music events. Discover more at mmfvt.org.