Unsuk Chin’s Clarinet Concerto, which was completed in 2004, will finally receive it’s U.S. Premiere with the New York Philharmonic this weekend.  It was co-commissioned with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, and the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra.

Here is conductor Alan Gilbert speaking about the work (and the Mahler that is also scheduled for the program):

As Gilbert mentions, the work is paired with Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 – which gets primary billing on the concert – even as evidenced by this banner ad I stumbled across just last week when catching up on classical music news at the WQXR website:

NYPhil Banner

 

What a shame that the U.S. Premiere of a work by an internationally renowned and highly acclaimed composer, being performed – no less – by the clarinetist she composed the work for (Kari Kriikku), would not be seen as a major draw to audiences.