Santa Fe Pro Musica opens 44th season with works by Gabriel Kahane and Antonín Dvořák

Santa Fe Pro Musica will open its 44th season Sunday, Oct. 5, with a program pairing Antonín Dvořák’s beloved “Serenade for Strings” with new works by composer Gabriel Kahane, performed alongside clarinetist Anthony McGill.

The concert at the Lensic Performing Arts Center will feature Kahane conducting his own clarinet concerto, “If Love Will Not Swing Wide the Gates,” written for McGill, who is the New York Philharmonic’s principal clarinetist. The title is drawn from the writings of James Baldwin, and, according to Pro Musica artistic director Colin Jacobsen, it speaks to the power of music as a unifying force in a fractured world.

“In a time when society feels more divided than ever, love is not the thing that seems to animate algorithms driving social media or newspapers or news programs,” Jacobsen said. “But love’s power finds perhaps its most direct expression in music, and Kahane’s music and Dvořák’s both tap into this power, in different but complementary ways.”

This concert marks the opening of Pro Musica’s 44th season and Jacobsen’s second full season as artistic director since taking the helm in 2022. He first played with the ensemble in 2003 at a benefit concert with Yo-Yo Ma.

“I have so much respect for Tom O’Connor and Carol Redman, who built this organization from the ground up 44 years ago, for the devoted board and staff that are helping it move forward into the future, and for the wonderful musicians I get to work with locally and to bring to Santa Fe from all around the world,” Jacobsen said.

Pro Musica’s programming spans orchestral concerts, a string quartet series, a Bach Festival and Holy Week baroque celebrations, making it a cornerstone of Santa Fe’s music scene.

McGill, who became the first African American principal clarinetist in the New York Philharmonic’s history, has combined a distinguished performing career with efforts to expand music education in underserved communities. Kahane, praised by The New Yorker as “one of the finest songwriters of the day,” straddles genres as a singer-songwriter, theater composer and classical innovator.

Jacobsen has collaborated with both artists for years, meeting McGill at the Marlboro Music Festival and working extensively with Kahane through his other ensembles, Brooklyn Rider and The Knights.

“Both are pushing classical music forward with their contributions,” Jacobsen said. “Anthony with some of the most compelling lyrical playing on the clarinet … and Gabriel straddling multiple music worlds in a seamless way.”

Kahane will also perform a selection of his original songs with the Pro Musica orchestra.

Jacobsen says he hopes the audience will come away with a broadened sense of what classical programming can be.

“I hope that those who come knowing Dvořák but not Kahane walk away wowed with Gabe’s music and vice versa,” he said. “I love mixing the old and the new, having elements of surprise in our programs and finding new ways to play familiar music. And I feel that Santa Fe audiences are fertile ground for this kind of experimentation.”

The concert begins at 3 p.m. at the Lensic Performing Arts Center, 211 W. San Francisco St. in Santa Fe. A “Meet the Music” talk with Jacobsen and KHFM program director Brent Stevens will take place at 2 p.m. and is included with ticket purchase.

Following the concert, an artist dinner with Jacobsen, McGill, and Kahane will be held at Alkemē at 5 p.m. Tickets for the dinner are $200 per person and include a three-course meal and wine.

Concert tickets range from $30.80-$102.90 and are available at tickets.sfpromusica.org or by calling 505-988-4640.

Santa Fe Pro Musica opens 44th season with works by Gabriel Kahane and Antonín Dvořák