The Damocles Trio has performed throughout the USA, appearing numerous times at Alice Tully Hall in New York City, and completed highly successful tours of Switzerland in 1999, 2001 and 2003. Commenting on a performance in Interlaken, the Oberländisches Tagblatt wrote, “The members of this international trio were perfectly attuned to each other and interpreted the magnificent work with great expressiveness,” and a critic from the Zürichsee Zeitung enthused, “The three artists did justice to the great work of Beethoven with perfect harmony, courtly elegance..., subtle coloration, and great virtuosity.” (for CD reviews, click here) The ensemble was founded in 1996 by pianist Adam Kent, violinist Airi Yoshioka, and cellist Sibylle Johner, all accomplished soloists in their own right. The three musicians met in the doctoral program at The Juilliard School, where they were awarded a Maxwell and Muriel Gluck Fellowship for the 1998/99 academic year and coached with Felix Galimir, Jerome Lowenthal, and Stephen Clapp. The only piano trio to advance to the finals of the 2002 International Concert Artists Guild Competition, the Damocles Trio has been featured frequently on Robert Sherman’s “Young Artists Showcase” on WQXR radio. Recent performances have included recitals for BargeMusic, the Salisbury State University of Maryland Concert Series, the University of Maryland Baltimore County, and the Amarillo Chamber Music Society, a celebration of the music of Ernesto Halffter at the Third Street Music School Settlement, a performance at the 2000 Chamber Music America Conference in New York City, programs of Hispanic music at Merkin Concert Hall in 2000 and 2004, a concert of new music by Spanish composers on the North River Music series at the Greenwich House Music School, and participation in the inaugural event of the Foundation for Iberian Music at the City University of New York’s Graduate Center in honor of Alicia de Larrocha. The trio also produced “Música por doquier” (“Hispanic Music Everywhere”) (www.musicapordoquier.org) in 2004, a year-long festival in New York City underwritten by the Spanish Ministerio de Educación, Cultura, y Deporte, including master classes, lectures, concerts, and premieres of newly commissioned works. Many of the trio’s Spanish-themed projects have won the support of the Consulate General of Spain, The Foundation for Iberian Music at the CUNY Graduate Center, Instituto Cervantes, and the King Juan Carlos I Center at NYU. The trio has participated in numerous summer festivals, including Craftsbury Chamber Players of Vermont, Shandalee Music Festival of New York, Music at Grey Towers of Pennsylvania, Music Festival of the Hamptons, and The 1794 Meeting House Concert Series of Massachusetts. The trio’s critically acclaimed recording of Turina’s complete piano trios and quartet with Emerson Quartet violist Lawrence Dutton is available on Claves Records, and the ensemble has been engaged to record the complete piano trios of Heitor Villa-Lobos in 2006. (for a live Telecast from 9/11/2006, click here) |
