Alan Gilbert to Conduct Clarinet Concerto as Part of NIELSEN PROJECT in 2015

The New York Philharmonic and Alan Gilbert will conclude The Nielsen Project - the Philharmonic's acclaimed multi-season survey of the six symphonies and three concertos by Danish composer Carl Nielsen (1865-1931) - with Nielsen's Clarinet Concerto, featuring newly appointed Principal Clarinet Anthony McGill in his Philharmonic debut. As part of the project, the concerto will be recorded for future release on Denmark's Dacapo label. The program will also include Ravel's Valses nobles et sentimentales and selections from Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, and will take place Thursday, January 8, 2015, at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, January 9 at 8:00 p.m.; Saturday, January 10 at 8:00 p.m.; and Tuesday, January 13 at 7:30 p.m.

The New York Philharmonic's free Insights at the Atrium series will present "Perspectives on Nielsen: A Conversation with Principal Clarinet Anthony McGill," Wednesday, January 7, 2015, at 7:30 p.m., at which Mr. McGill and Program Annotator James M. Keller will discuss the composer and The Nielsen Project. Ambassador Jarl Frijs-Madsen, Consul General of Denmark in New York, will speak, officially kicking off celebrations of the 150th anniversary of Nielsen's birth. The event takes place at the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center (Columbus Avenue at 62nd Street) and is co-presented with Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

Upon its completion, The Nielsen Project will comprise four recordings, released by Dacapo and distributed by Naxos, to be released in a boxed set coinciding with the 150th anniversary of the composer's birth, June 9, 2015. The first recording - featuring Nielsen's Symphony No. 2, The Four Temperaments, and Symphony No. 3, Sinfonia espansiva, led by Alan Gilbert with baritone Joshua Hopkins and soprano Erin Morley - was released in September 2012 and subsequently selected by The New York Times as one of the Best Classical Music Recordings of 2012. The second recording - featuring Nielsen's Symphonies No. 1 and No. 4, The Inextinguishable, led by Alan Gilbert - was released in September 2014. ClassicsToday.com wrote of this latest release: "These are strong, exciting performances of symphonies that demand the sort of bold muscularity in their execution that these artists offer.... The playing of the New York Philharmonic throughout is fresh and unaffected, full of spirit and drive." On the all-Nielsen program earlier in the season, October 1-3, 2014, Alan Gilbert conducted Nielsen's Maskarade Overture, Symphony No. 5, and Symphony No. 6, Sinfonia semplice. The symphonies were recorded for future release.