It was commissioned by the Arlene and Dr. Milton D. Berkman Philanthropic Fund for the clarinetist David Shifrin, to whom the piece is dedicated.
The concerto was first performed by Shifrin and twelve members of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in Alice Tully Hall on September 12, 2003.
[1] The work is scored for solo clarinet and a small orchestra consisting of flute, oboe, bassoon, two horns, cornet, percussion, and strings.
[1] Peter G. Davis of New York wrote, "Ellen Taaffe Zwilich's 'Clarinet Concerto' would surely have turned out to be quite a different piece had not the fatal date arrived just as she was about to start work on the second movement."
He added, "It's all done with the most skillful application and development of its musical materials – a score truly inspired by a tragic event and one that is likely to transcend it.