NFoM Concert Preview—

Music For Valentine’s Day

February is the month for lovers. Newtown Friends of Music has a love affair with Trio Solisti, and is thrilled to share it.

Just in time for Valentine’s Day and for the third concert of the 2004-05 NFoM season, Trio Solisti will perform on Sunday, February 13, at 3 pm. NFoM concerts are performed in the theater at Edmond Town Hall, 45 Main Street in Newtown.

Three eminent musicians – the violinist Maria Bachmann, the cellist Alexis Pia Gerlach and the pianist Jon Klibonoff – are Trio Solisti. Each artist is an outstanding soloist and together, their synergy results in one of the most respected piano trios today.

 Already known to Newtown audiences are Jon Klibonoff, who performed here last in 1996, and Maria Bachmann, who was the featured violinist in a program aptly called “Competition Winners.” It will be Miss Gerlach’s first appearance on the Newtown stage.

Trio Solisti has performed in many of the most prestigious halls in the United States and throughout Europe. Collaborations have included performances with artists such as Yo-Yo Ma, Mstislav Rostropovich, Leonard Slatkin, Dawn Upshaw, and Richard Stoltzman, among others, as well as various string quartets. In addition, the trio frequently presents concerts in New York at the Morgan Library.  Trio Solisti holds the distinction as the founding chamber ensemble of the Telluride MusicFest.

Highlights in 2004 included the trio’s debut performances at Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater, on Lincoln Center’s Great Performers Series at The Walter Reade Theater, and at The Tuscan Sun Festival in Cortona, Italy. During this past year, the Trio also appeared on the nationally broadcast radio show “St Paul Sunday.”

Trio Solisti excels in its repertoire of classics from Beethoven and Schubert to Ravel and Shostakovich. Additionally, it explores contemporary composers including Paul Schoenfield, John Anthony Lennon, John Musto, and Scott Johnson, as well as a little known early trio composed by the great Leonard Bernstein.

For their performance in Newtown, Trio Solisti will offer a program spanning three centuries, starting with Haydn’s Piano Trio in G Major, Hoboken XV, Number 25.

The 19th Century Brahms’ Piano Trio in C minor, Opus 101 will follow.

Following intermission, the concert will conclude with Ravel’s Trio for Piano, Violin and Cello, composed in 1914. 

A post-performance reception and an opportunity to meet and speak with the artists will conclude the afternoon.

Early reservations are highly recommended for what planners expect to be a popular event. Tickets are $15 and are available in advance by calling 426-4670 or visiting www.NewtownFriendsOfMusic.org. As always, children between the ages of 5 and 14 will be admitted free of charge when accompanied by a ticket-holding adult.

Edmond Town Hall is wheelchair accessible. Free parking is available behind the building.

This program is sponsored by Western Connecticut Federal Credit Union.