Judith LeClair
Judith LeClair Originally from Delaware, Judith LeClair is the Principal Bassoonist for the New York Philharmonic, a position she’s had since 1981. Judith became the first woman to take over a first chair at the Philharmonic, and she’s now made more than fifty solo appearances with the orchestra. In 1995 she premiered a work called “Five Sacred Trees,” written expressly for her by composer John Williams. In its review of that performance, the Times wrote, “Ms. LeClair played the work with the best kind of virtuosity, the sort that creates the illusion that the toughest demands were no trouble at all. She brought a beautiful singing tone to Mr. William’s more ruminative passages, and vitality to its more overtly showy ones.” She’s married to the musician listed below.