Anthony McGill joins force with Emanuel Ax for a concert at Hancher Auditorium in Iowa City

Anthony McGill doesn’t have much free time. As principal clarinet of the New York Philharmonic, McGill is often in New York preparing or performing with the iconic orchestra.

However, when McGill had the opportunity to perform with pianist Emanuel Ax, the Chicago native worked out a week in which the tandem could perform on the road.

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“I’m very happy to have the opportunity to work with one of the greatest pianists in the world,” McGill said while calling from Kansas City. “It’s funny I’m saying this since Emanuel is sitting right next to me. We’re getting ready to perform our first recital together and it will be such a joy.”

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When McGill, 45, and Ax, 75, play Saturday at the Hancher Auditorium in Iowa City, expect a diverse evening of music.

“We look forward to presenting old classics by the likes of Beethoven and we’ll also deliver newer material by people like Jessie Montgomery. We’ll be playing material from some really wonderful composers like Florence Price.”

One of the highlights of the evening for McGill will be rendering an early work by Leonard Bernstein, “Sonata for Clarinet and Piano.”

“There is no one like Leonard Bernstein,” McGill said. “I love his beautiful melodies and fun rhythms. It’s so good to be able to perform with a musician, who is as exceptional as Emanuel.”

McGill is a tremendous musician in his own right. McGill, who has performed alongside Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma and Gabriela Montero at the inauguration of President Barack Obama, is a virtuoso.

The charismatic entertainer and his older brother Demarre, who is the principal flutist of the Seattle Symphony, grew up in Chicago with parents who exposed their sons to the arts at an early age.

“My parents were visual artists,” McGill said. “My father did oil paintings and my mother had a gift for singing, so music and the arts were very much encouraged.”

There are many distractions in Chicago but McGill was focused and became serious about music as a prepubescent.

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“I was lucky enough that I had people around me that looked like me in Chicago that played classical music,” McGill said. “I was in an ensemble called the Chicago Teen Ensemble from the time I was 10 years old where we were playing concerts in churches in the Southside of Chicago, and playing arrangements and playing from Bach to Duke Ellington, to all these different artists and musicians, and so I grew up in that culture of diversity, of repertoire and diversity of players. In addition to my brother, and further that, my first youth orchestra conductor was (the late) Michael Morgan. He was my first conductor role model and this was something that I just took for granted.”

McGill, who won the 2020 Avery Fisher Prize, which is one of classical music’s most significant awards, loves mixing the sound of the clarinet with the piano.

“It really is a terrific combination,” McGill said. “The clarinet blends so well with the piano. And then there’s the material we’ll play when we get to Iowa City. It’s going to be a wonderful night for us and for anyone who has the chance to experience Emanuel playing the piano.”

McGill, who also teaches at the Juilliard School and the Curtis Institute of Music, is pleased to be performing in the Midwest.

“It’s wonderful to be in this part of the country,” McGill said. “Our flight just landed and it’s already good to be back and get set to play for a different audience. It’s going to be a wonderful time when we perform in Iowa City.”