David McGill Departs the Chicago Symphony Orchestra After 17 Years for a Teaching Position at Northwestern University

David McGill, principal bassoon of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for 17 years, has resigned his position with the Orchestra, effective in August 2014, in order to accept a full-time teaching position at Northwestern University's Bienen School of Music.

David McGill began his tenure as the CSO's principal bassoon in 1997, appointed by then-music director Daniel Barenboim.

CSO Music Director Riccardo Muti remarked, "After many wonderful years as Principal Bassoon of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, David McGill has decided now to dedicate his talents to teaching and soloist activities. In him, the Orchestra loses an exceptional artist and I will personally miss not only a musician but also a friend. David's deep musical experiences will enable him to make an important contribution to the teaching of young musicians, continuing the great tradition that he himself received. I send my best wishes for his continued success in all his musical activities."

"Teaching has always been a great love of mine, and the rigors of performing have precluded me pursuing this noble profession as much as I would like," said David McGill. "I have learned so much from Maestro Muti and the great musicians of this incredible Orchestra, and thank them all for 17 years of unforgettable music making."

A native of Tulsa, Oklahoma, David McGill holds a bachelor of music degree from Philadelphia's Curtis Institute of Music, where his teachers included Sol Schoenbach, John de Lancie and John Minsker. He came to Chicago from the Cleveland Orchestra, where he had served as principal bassoon since 1988. Prior to that, McGill was principal bassoon of the Toronto Symphony (1985 to 1988) and the Tulsa Philharmonic (1980-81), as well as of the Solti Orchestral Project at Carnegie Hall in 1994 and the World Orchestra for Peace in 1995, both under Sir Georg Solti.

McGill has appeared as soloist with the CSO on over 25 occasions, including at Carnegie Hall in 2005 and with John Williams in his bassoon concerto, The Five Sacred Trees. He has also performed as soloist with the Cleveland Orchestra and the Toronto Symphony, among others. In 1994, McGill gave the world premiere of Oskar Morawetz's Concerto for Bassoon and Chamber Orchestra, which was written for him, and in 1996, he performed in the American premiere of Jean Françaix's Trio for Oboe, Bassoon and Piano at the International Double Reed Society's convention. He has also performed at the Marlboro, Tanglewood, Aspen and Santa Fe Chamber Music festivals.

McGill received the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist with Orchestra for his recording of Richard Strauss's Duett-Concertino for Clarinet and Bassoon (with Larry Combs) from the CSO's recording of Strauss's wind concertos with Daniel Barenboim conducting. Other recordings include Musique Française with oboist Alfred Genovese and pianist Peter Serkin, Orchestral Excerpts for Bassoon (a teaching CD), and Mozart's Bassoon Concerto with the Cleveland Orchestra and Christoph von Dohnányi conducting.

McGill has led master classes in Canada, Finland, Hungary and throughout the United States. He has held teaching posts at the University of Toronto, the Cleveland Institute of Music, Indiana University, DePaul University and Roosevelt University.

McGill is the author of Sound in Motion: A Performer's Guide to Greater Musical Expression, published in 2007 by Indiana University Press. He currently is writing a biography of the legendary theremin virtuoso Clara Rockmore.

David McGill recently accepted a full tenured professorship of bassoon at Northwestern University's Bienen School of Music. He is the soloist with the CSO in Mozart's Bassoon Concerto on June 12, 13, 14 and 17, 2014, at Symphony Center with Music Director Riccardo Muti conducting. McGill's final appearances with the CSO will take place at the Ravinia Festival this summer.

About the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (cso.org)
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) is consistently hailed as one of the greatest orchestras in the world. Its music director since 2010 is Riccardo Muti, one of the preeminent conductors of our day. Pierre Boulez is the CSO's Helen Regenstein Conductor Emeritus; Yo-Yo Ma is the CSO's Judson and Joyce Green Creative Consultant. Mason Bates and Anna Clyne are the CSO's Mead Composers-in-Residence.

The musicians of the CSO annually perform more than 150 concerts, most at Symphony Center in downtown Chicago and, in the summer, at the suburban Ravinia Festival. The CSO frequently tours internationally and occasionally performs in other parts of the U.S. Since its founding in 1891, the Orchestra has made 57 international tours, visiting 28 countries on five continents. At home and on tour, tickets are always in high demand and frequently sold out.

People around the globe enjoy the extraordinary sounds of the Orchestra through broadcasts and webcasts of the weekly CSO Radio program and through CSO Resound, the CSO's own record label. Recordings by the CSO have won 62 Grammy Awards®.

The parent organization for the CSO is the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association (CSOA). It also includes the Chicago Symphony Chorus, directed by Duain Wolfe, and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, a pre-professional ensemble conducted by Cliff Colnot. Through a series called Symphony Center Presents, the CSOA brings internationally known guest artists and ensembles from a variety of musical genres-classical, jazz, pop, world, and contemporary-to Chicago.

The CSOA's Institute for Learning, Access, and Training offers a variety of youth, community, and education programs that engage more than 200,000 people of diverse ages, incomes and backgrounds. Through the programs of the Institute as well as many other activities, including a free annual CSO concert, the CSOA promotes the concept of Citizen Musicianship: using the power of music to contribute to our culture, our communities and the lives of others.

A nonprofit organization, the CSOA is governed by a voluntary board of trustees and supported by tens of thousands of other volunteers, patrons and corporate, foundation and individual donors. Deborah F. Rutter, a highly regarded arts executive, is president of the CSOA.