Chicago's South Side has been the incubator for our city's particular brand of blues, rhythm and blues and gospel music, as well as the longtime home of president-elect Barack Obama.
But just before Obama took the oath of office Tuesday, another son of the South Side took the spotlight in a different style of music during the inauguration ceremonies.
Anthony McGill -- raised in the Chatham neighborhood and, at age 29, principal clarinet of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra -- appeared as part of a quartet that includes cellist Yo-Yo Ma, violinist Itzhak Perlman and pianist Gabriela Montero. They played a short piece written for the ceremony by John Williams, composer of dozens of film scores ranging from "E.T., the Extra-Terrestrial" to "Star Wars.'"
The inauguration's musical lineup also included Aretha Franklin, the U.S. Army Marine Band, children's choruses from San Francisco and a contingent from the U.S. Navy Band.
Wynne Delacoma, the Sun-Times' classical music critic from 1991 to 2006, profiles McGill on SunTimes.com.