This concerto for clarinet (doubling bass clarinet) and eight instruments, commissioned by Frank M. Hudson in honor of the teaching and performing career of Donald E. McGinnis, is a Dance Concerto riffing on the theme of its premiere at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, 'dancing the night away until dawn.’  The soloist plays both clarinet and bass clarinet in this virtuosic, three - movement chamber concerto.  All three movements are 'dance music,' as if the soloist were the leader of some sort of dance band on this or another planet.  The eight other members of the band play flute (+ piccolo and alto flute), horn, trombone, piano, violin, viola, cello and bass, and they play fast music, slow music and music in between.  These are invented dances; the regulars at this particular late - night, cosmopolitan club are very, very good, but even newcomers can join in and dance until the sun comes up.  Dance Concerto, written mostly during the summer and fall of 2012, was completed in February 2013.  The world premiere, on April 20, 2013 in Washington, D.C., was given by the dedicatees: Paul Cigan, clarinetist, and the 21^st Century Consort, Christopher Kendall, artistic director.     - Donald Crockett