DELPHI TRIO

• Brahms: Piano Trio No.3 - III. Andante grazioso

"In listening to this typical programme of established classics framing a premiere recording – Bolcom’s 2014 Trio, of which they gave the first concert outing as well – their mutual understanding and interaction are palpable. They take a nicely expansive approach to Beethoven... It is all very beautifully done... [The Brahms] elicits the finest playing on the disc, the three players at their very best, completely at one with Brahms’s concentrated writing. So they are, too, in the Bolcom... First-rate sound."

Guy Rickards, Gramophone [July 2019]

"At this stage we are left with Bolcom's Piano Trio and the Delphi Trio - indeed one cannot live without the other. Why is this? It's somehow puzzling why one of America's greatest living composers turned to the standard piano trio at age seventy-six, after a host of other chamber works including some twelve string quartets, two piano quintets, two piano quartets and even some smaller pieces for the traditional instrumentation of piano, violin and cello. It all happened when Bolcom experienced the Delphi Trio's performing acumen, and was immediately taken in by their playing, opening the door to the commissioning process. Only later it was discovered that the composer's creative process was partly inspired by the Trio's ability to produce music of true spiritual and emotional depth... An invigorating mixture of past and present, brilliantly executed and sumptuously recorded, which is truly worth investigating."

Gerald Fenech, Classical Music Daily [May 2019]

"The Delphi Trio handles Beethoven’s way of balancing the three instruments particularly well... This entire CD is quite appealing, but the Bolcom work makes it a must-have for listeners especially interested in the piano-violin-cello combination."

Mark J. Estren, InfoDad [April 2019]

“spot-on ensemble playing and a beautifully blended sound”

San Francisco Classical Voice

“rich, committed string tone, dazzling pianism, rhythmic flexibility, and risky tempi”

Sarasota Herald Tribune

The Delphi Trio – violinist Liana Bérubé, cellist Michelle Kwon and pianist Jeffrey LaDeur – has become an important voice in the world of chamber music. Prizewinners of the 2015 Orlando Concours in the Netherlands, the Delphi Trio has performed in Germany, the Netherlands, Canada, and across the United States. Recent highlights include a concerto residency with the San Jose Chamber Orchestra and Barbara Day Turner, the west coast premiere of Paul Juon’s Episodes Concertantes (1912) with Michael Morgan and the Oakland Symphony, and performances at Carnegie Hall, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival and WFMT Studios in Chicago.

The Delphi Trio is grounded in the rich standard repertoire for piano trio and is committed to the exploration of its deep, lasting meaning for performers and audience alike. The Trio sees contemporary music as a natural extension of the standard repertoire and is therefore equally dedicated to the music of our time. Delphi has given acclaimed world premieres of William Bolcom’s Piano Trio (2014), Max Stoffregen’s Coyote Plan (2013) and Sahba Aminikia’s Deltangi-ha (2012) and Shab o Meh (2014). Forthcoming commissions include a new work by Evan Price, a composer and jazz violinist formerly of the Turtle Island Quartet, and a triple concerto in celebration of Beethoven’s 250th year by acclaimed composer-pianist-vocalist Clarice Assad.

The Delphi Trio believes that the field of chamber music is an ideal model for education. Delphi is committed to supporting young artists as they begin their careers, and to that end established the Emerging Artist Program, which aids college students in preparing for and giving their first professional chamber music concert. The Trio also curates the Practice Project, a social media group dedicated to fostering community, openness and vulnerability among both professional and amateur artists.

As independent artists, the members of the trio perform in solo recital, larger chamber music and as soloists with orchestra and believe in the symbiotic relationship between solo and collaborative work. They have individually performed with numerous esteemed artists and ensembles, including Robert Mann, Anthony Marwood, Menahem Pressler, Geoff Nuttall, Paul Katz, and the Alexander and Afiara Quartets.

Liana Bérubé, Michelle Kwon and Jeffrey LaDeur are graduates of the University of Toronto, Stanford University and the Eastman School of Music respectively, and formed the Trio while studying in the prestigious Chamber Music degree program at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. They count among their mentors Henk Guittart, Bonnie Hampton, Stephen Prutsman and the St. Lawrence String Quartet, and have worked with Peter Wiley, Pedja Muzijevich, James Tocco, Anton Nel and Pamela Frank.

The Delphi Trio has always made food and friendship a priority and believes that these elements are at the heart of great chamber music. The ensemble is built on trust and communication; to that end, each Delphi rehearsal starts in the same way – a meal, conversation, and then music.

www.delphitrio.com LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770 –1827)
PIANO TRIO IN E-FLAT MAJOR, OP.70, NO.2 (1809)
I. Poco sostenuto – Allegro ma non troppo
II. Allegretto
III. Allegretto ma non troppo
IV. Allegro

WORLD PREMIERE RECORDING
WILLIAM BOLCOM (b.1938)
PIANO TRIO (2014)
I. energetic
II. serene; molto sostenuto
III. strongly driven

JOHANNES BRAHMS (1833 –1897)
PIANO TRIO NO.3 IN C MINOR, OP.101 (1886)
I. Allegro energico
II. Presto non assai
III. Andante grazioso
IV. Allegro molto
 



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