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Robert McGinnis
Robert McGinnis was born in Delaware County, west of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on February 1, 1910. His father, Claude Stonecliffe McGinnis (1881-1964) was a Physics professor at Temple University, Philadelphia, but also an amateur clarinetist. Robert McGinnis was a student of Daniel Bonade at the Curtis Institute from 1925, graduating in May, 1930. McGinnis joined the Philadelphia Orchestra in the Autumn of 1930, and became Principal clarinet 1931-1940. During the 1940-1941 season, McGinnis was the Principal clarinet of the Cleveland Orchestra under Rodzinski. During World War 2, 1942-1945, he was in the U.S. Navy Band. Following the War, he returned to the Cleveland Orchestra as Principal clarinet for one season, 1945-1946. Then, in the 1947-1948 season, McGinnis was Principal clarinet of the NBC Symphony under Toscanini, and also taught at Juilliard. McGinnis then moved to the New York Philharmonic as Principal clarinet 1948-1960. At the end of the 1959-1960 season, Robert McGinnis retired from the New York Philharmonic and then taught clarinet at Indiana University 1960-1963. After McGinnis, Stanley Drucker became Principal clarinet of the New York Philharmonic beginning with the 1960-1961 season. In an interesting posting on Klarinet Archive, Daniel Leeson wrote: "…I recently received a charming note from Sara McGinnis Thomson, daughter of the late Robert McGinnis, among other things formerly first clarinet in the New York Philharmonic, immediately preceding the extended and remarkable tenure of the current principle player Stanley Drucker.
She wrote to me because of a posting I made on the Klarinet some time ago and in which I spoke of seeing McGinnis playing with Paul LaValle's Band of America at the World's Fair in New York City in 1964. My comments at that time were that I was shocked that a player of McGinnis' competence was reduced to playing a couple of shows a day under Paul LaValle, and she said, "To my knowledge, dad had to play those gigs to bring money in. He could not hold an orchestral position anymore because he was debilitated by arthritis and was in constant and severe pain. He passed away in 1976 of a heart attack." * Robert McGinnis finished his orchestral career playing Co-Principal clarinet (with Philip Fath) with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra under Joseph Krips 1964-1969. After a remarkable career playing with a long series of leading U.S. orchestras, Robert McGinnis died on January 1, 1976 in Huntington, New York.
Tchaikovsky Symphony No 6 mvt 1 Ex1
Philadelphia Orchestra, Ormandy
Tchaikovsky Symphony No 6 mvt 1 Ex2
Philadelphia Orchestra, Ormandy
Brahms Symphony No 4 mvt 2
Philadelphia Orchestra, Stokowsky
Borodin Polovtsian Dances
Philadelphia Orchestra, Stokowsky
Sibelius "Berceuse"
Philadelphia Orchestra, Ormandy
Ravel Rhapsody Espagnole
Philadelphia Orchestra, Stokowsky
Brahms Symphony No 1
Philadelphia Orchestra, Stokowsky
