By Marie
For my music class I had an assignment that consisted of me choosing a concert to go to and later writing about it. I chose to attend a concert presented by The Knights with Anthony McGill at Carnegie’s Zankel Hall. The Knights are an orchestra ensemble who are New York based. They are known to perform classical music that falls under the Jazz category along with some contemporary music. Anthony McGill is a clarinetist and the first African American Principal Clarinet of the New York Philharmonic. On April 9th my mother and I made our way to 57th St and 7th Ave to Carnegie Hall. If I’m being completely honest I had no idea and was very uninterested in what I was going to listen to and watch. My mom helped me pick out the concert. We were rushing to find one to attend at the last minute. Due to the fact I had to miss the first original concert I picked because of a family emergency and the due date was coming close. We got there and I told my mom that I had felt a little out of place which built up my anxiety of not wanting to be there. Many people showed up in elegant formal wear. I had gone in some slacks with a regular knitted sweater, I mean I looked like I was going to a meeting not an orchestra concert. When we walked in we followed a sign that showed an arrow pointing down labeled Zankel Hall. The hall looked like a really big auditorium with tan colored seats facing one big stage. My mom and I sat down in Row E, five rows back, it’s a good distance from the stage, I had a pretty clear view of everything.
7:25 came around and I saw the performers taking their places and the hall begins to quiet down. The performance started at 7:30 and the conductor Eric Jacobsen came out and took his place. Eric Jacobsen is a conductor as well as a cellist and is also artistic director and co-founder of The Knights. I wasn’t looking forward to the concert at all, my mind was in other places and I was checked out from the very beginning. Between feeling out of place and stressing about other things, sitting and watching a concert was the last thing I wanted to do.
The first piece of the night was composed by Ljovas Zhurbin and called “Garmoshka”. This piece was written in 2006 and is about 8 minutes long. Garmoshka is a classical piece that is inspired by Eastern European and Russian Folk tales. Garmoshka itself means ‘a traditional Russian button accordion’. The piece consists of many string instruments such as the viola, violin, and cello. It’s a very contemporary piece, like something villagers would dance along too. It feels very vibrant and soft flowing, I wasn’t sure how to feel due to the fact that I had been used to listening to pieces from Mozart and Beethoven. But it was definitely calming to listen too.
The second piece was Duke Ellington – “Sophisticated Lady”. Written in 1933, Duke Ellington was a pianist and composer who helped elevate jazz into a concert art form we still see today. Before the piece started I saw Anthony McGill move up from where he originally was, he is now standing upstage in clear view of where I was sitting. The Knights started playing and it sounded like something you’d hear in an old jazz musical when the couple finally gets together and have a dance. My mother absolutely loved this piece. I, on the other hand, was falling asleep. It had a smooth melody and an elegant mood. Reading the title I expected something more mysterious but its a very soft tone. It consisted of the clarinet played by Anthony McGill along with the trumpet and the saxophone. Unlike the first piece this piece was about 4 minutes long.
The third piece performed was Margaret Bonds -“Troubled Waters”. This piece was written in 1967 and was inspired by the African American spiritual “Wade in The Water”. Margaret Bonds was a composer and pianist who was also a teacher. She was one of the first black composers to gain national recognition. When first listening to the piece it starts off very intense then smooths out. The only instrument playing the entire time is the piano. This piece has a very deep and sad emotion to it, it feels very intense but energetic. The name of the piece being “Troubled Waters” makes sense to me. It connects to the movement of the “ flowing waters” along with emotional struggles.
The fourth piece of the evening was Gabriel Kahane – “If love will not swing wide the gates”. Gabriel Kahane is an American composer and songwriter who is known for making folk pieces and contemporary pieces. For this piece they had Anthony McGill playing right in the center of everybody due to the fact this piece was mainly for clarinets and orchestra. Throughout the piece Anthony would play solo and then the orchestra would join and vice versa. The orchestra consisted of string instruments as well as some woodwind instruments. The piece was very calming, a little too calming for me, I found this piece boring and it lasted for about twenty minutes. I felt like this piece resembled the first piece I had already listened to which was Ljova- Garmoshka. Both pieces were folktale inspired except this piece was mainly focused on the clarinet.
The fifth piece we heard was Aaron Copland Appalachian Spring Suite. Aaron Copland was a composer and a conductor himself. However this piece was originally written to Accompany a 1944 ballet commissioned by choreographer Martha Graham. This piece is definitely something you’d hear in a ballet. It has many instruments including the normal string instruments we’ve heard in every other piece. It also had woodwind instruments, the flute and the oboe, along with the piano and trumpets. This was another performance I didn’t seem to enjoy because it sounded very repetitive and it went on for a while. I also was ready to go at this point and had zero interest left.
And for our last performance of the night it was Albert Brumley “I’ll Fly Away”. This piece was written in 1929 and became a very popular gospel hymn in America. Christina Coutin, an American singer and violinist, is also a part of this piece. She sang as well as played the violin. It had actual vocals along with having a guitar and a bass. I actually enjoyed this piece because coming from a religious home, I thought it was something I’d hear in church. The song expresses having hope and longing for freedom while finding spiritual peace.
Overall, The concert itself wasn’t so bad but I didn’t have such a good time. I only enjoyed about two pieces out of six that were performed but I’m glad I had the opportunity to try out something new while exploring out of my comfort zone. I personally wouldn’t go again. If you enjoy classical folktale music, I personally think this concert is just for you. My mother absolutely loved this concert, she said every piece was unique and she was excited to hear the next piece every time the last piece would end.
Citations Jacobsen, Colin. “The Knights in Concert: April 9, 2026.” Carnegiehall.org https://www.carnegiehall.org/Calendar/2026/04/09/The-Knights-0730PM, Accessed 19 May 2026. “Clarinetist Anthony McGill | Official Website.” Anthonymcgill.com, 2025, www.anthonymcgill.com/.
