Violin. Cello. Piano. 15 bucks

NEWS RELEASE

LAKE SUPERIOR
STATE UNIVERSITY

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Classical music trio coming to LSSU Arts Center

SAULT STE. MARIE, MI – One of Michigan's most notable classical music trios opens the Sault International Arts Festival with a June 13 evening performance in Lake Superior State University's Arts Center.

The Merling Trio is recognized as one of today’s premier ensembles and brings together musicians from Polish, Japanese, and Dutch backgrounds.

It has been hailed as a brilliantly distinguished group endowed with remarkable gifts of communication, magnificent precision, and an impeccable blend of sound.

The trio made its New York debut in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in 1993, and was named a finalist for the Naumburg Foundation Chamber Music Award in 1994.

They have coached with Bonnie Hampton, Ruth Laredo, Martin Canin, Joyce Robbins, Joel Krosnick, and Anne Epperson.

The Merling Trio has given numerous recitals throughout Canada and the United States.

Members of the trio have performed with orchestras such as the English Chamber Orchestra, the Honolulu Symphony, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, the Concerto Soloists of Philadelphia, and the South Carolina Philharmonic, under the baton of such notable conductors as Daniel Barenboim, Simon Rattle, and Christoph Eschenbach.

Recent trio performances include concerts for the Chamber Music Society of Charleston (West Va.), the Texas Friends of Chamber Music Series, the Jewel Box Series at Northeastern Illinois University, and the Columbus (Ohio) Museum of Art.

Several contemporary composers have written works for the Merling Trio, and in 1993, they commissioned and premiered C. Curtis-Smith’s Second Piano Trio.

In February 1998, the trio returned to Carnegie Hall for a sold-out performance of a new work by New York composer Terry Winter-Owens, commissioned by the Merling Trio with a Commissioning Grand from the American Composers Forum.

In 2003, the trio premiered Frank Proto’s Quartet for Piano and Strings at St. John’s Smith Square in London, England.

Performances by the Merling Trio have been broadcast widely on television and radio, including WNYC, WFMT 98.7 in Chicago, and Peachstate Public Radio.

Their first CD, entitled “The Merling Trio performs works of C. Curtis-Smith”, was released in 1995 by Albany Records, in collaboration with conductor Dennis Russell Davies.

About the CD, Fanfare wrote, “The composer could not ask for better interpreters.” The trio’s next CD, “Piano Trio Classics,” including works by Haydn, Mozart, Brahms, Schumann, and Liszt, was released by Pamplin Records in 2001.

Centaur Records released the trio’s new recording of works by Piazzolla and Proto in 2006.

In residence at the School of Music at Western Michigan University, members of the trio are also faculty members at the prestigious Encore School for Strings, and at the Lancut Festival in Poland.

Festival appearances include the Banff Centre for the Arts, the Pensacola Summer Music Festival, the Skaneateles Festival, the Saugatuck Chamber Music Festival, and the Fontana Festival of Art and Music.

Recent educational activities include performances and master classes for the California Music Teachers Association, the Music Teachers National Association, the Hawaii International Arts and Humanities Conference, and the American String Teachers Association National Conference.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer wrote: “The players shaped a grand interpretation, fluent in rhythm and rich in romantic feeling.”

The Grand Rapids Press said: “The trio…delivered a standard of playing that is on par with some of the best known violin-cello-piano teams, captivating the audience through the immediacy and extraordinary sensitivity of its playing.”

The London Musical Opinion declared that the Merling Trio “made a powerful impression, with unabashed romanticism and finesse.”

The Merling Trio's LSSU concert is June 13 at 8 p.m.

Tickets — $15 for adults, $8 for students and children — are available at the Norris Center box office by calling 906-635-2602.

Discounts for groups of 10 or more are available by calling 906-635-2184.

A complete listing of Sault International Arts Festival events is here

PHOTO CAPTION: Standing are Bruce Uchimura and Susan Wiersma Uchimura; seated, Renata Artman Knific