Merz Trio [Rebroadcast]

June 17, 2020, 12:15 pm

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Merz Trio (Photo: Dario Acosta)

This is a rebroadcast from October 16, 2019.

Brigid Coleridge, violin
Julia Yang, cello
Lee Dionne, piano

Lauded for its “stunning virtuosity and ensemble work,” the Merz Trio has been hailed as “riveting,” with “fresh and surprising interpretations” (Reading Eagle). Formed in 2017, the Trio has made a sweep of top US competitions, taking Gold Medals at the 2019 Fischoff and 2018 Chesapeake Competitions and being named a winner of the 2019 Concert Artists Guild Competition.

Merz Trio is committed to passionate, original playing and thoughtfully curated programming, often in the form of interdisciplinary collaboration. Taking their name from the early 20th-century German visual artist Kurt Schwitters, the Trio embraces Schwitters’ description of “Merz” as, “to create connections… preferably between everything in this world.”

Currently the Trio is touring its original recital theater piece, “Those Secret Eyes,” an immersive concert experience based on Shakespeare’s Macbeth that combines chamber performance, spoken text, and dance. The Trio has further curated programs that interweave music with literary narrative and visual art, as well as salon concerts that have paired music with wine tastings and culinary arts.

Merz Trio’s 2019-2020 season includes performances at Boston’s Jordan Hall, NYC’s Sheen Center, and the Chicago Cultural Center, along with residencies at Snape Maltings and Yellow Barn. Past major appearances include Jordan Hall, the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater, the Melbourne Town Hall, and Aldeburgh’s Jubilee Hall. The Trio has additionally been featured in live performance on the BBC’s Radio 3, Australia’s Classic FM, and Chicago’s WFMT Radio.

Merz Trio has appeared at the Chesapeake Festival, Olympic Music Festival, and Lake Champlain Music Festival, as well as enjoying creative residencies at Avaloch Farm Music Institute and Snape Maltings in Aldeburgh, UK. This 2019-2020 season they hold educational residencies at the Lake Champlain Musical Festival and New England Conservatory’s Preparatory Division.

Merz Trio is a committed advocate of the Piano Trio genre, not only through championing new works and their own arrangements for Trio, but also through growing a body of highly produced, online video content of piano trio performances. Merz Trio has been the recipient of several New England Conservatory Entrepreneurial Musicianship Grants to support their various endeavors.

Based in Boston, Merz Trio is the current Professional Trio in Residence at the New England Conservatory. They are deeply indebted to their work with their mentors at NEC — Vivian Weilerstein, Donald Weilerstein, Merry Peckham, and Kim Kashkashian — as well as their wider work with mentors Julio Elizalde, Gerhard Schulz, Mark Steinberg, Marcy Rosen, Seth Knopp, Thomas Sauer, Alisdair Tate, Isabel Charisius, Natasha Brofsky, Nina Lee, Robert Mcdonald, and Serena Canin.

Biography courtesy of the artist’s website.

  • Piano Trio No. 1 in B Major, Op. 8, by Johannes Brahms
    Allegro con brio — Tranquillo — In tempo ma sempre sostenuto
    Scherzo: Allegro molto — Meno allegro — Tempo primo
    Adagio
    Finale: Allegro

  • Widmung from Myrthen, Op. 25, by Robert Schumann
    arr. Merz Trio