Dubbed “one of the finest piano trios on the current scene” by New Yorker magazine, Trio Con Brio Copenhagen will appear at the Kauai Community College Performing Arts Center 7 tonight to perform a program packed with fireworks, majesty and
Dubbed “one of the finest piano trios on the current scene” by New Yorker magazine, Trio Con Brio Copenhagen will appear at the Kauai Community College Performing Arts Center 7 tonight to perform a program packed with fireworks, majesty and mystery. The performance will kick off the Kauai Concert Association’s 2014-15 season.
Founded in Vienna in 1999, the trio consists of Danish pianist Jens Elvekjaer and two Korean sisters, violinist Soo-Jin Hong and Elvekjaer’s wife, cellist Soo-Kyung Hong. The group had its breakthrough when it took first prize at Germany’s prestigious ARD International Music Competition in 2002. Their reputation has been cemented ever since by their freshness of approach to core repertoire by Beethoven, Schubert and Brahms. The group has won awards at competitions and festivals around the world, including the highly prestigious Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson International Trio Award in 2005.
This award gave them a record deal, as well as concert engagements in twenty major concert series across the United States.
In an email interview, the members of the group talked about what makes performing with the trio such a joy: “When everything works out perfectly in concerts, it doesn’t matter if the Queen of Denmark is in the audience or we’re playing in a suburb of Copenhagen. Those are the unforgettable moments we live for,” said Elvekjaer, spokesman of the group.
Their current tour marks their third time in Hawaii and second time in Kauai.
“We love coming to Hawaii! We always look forward to the beauty of nature, as well as meeting very nice people,” Elvekjaer said.
Tonight’s program includes Tchaikovsky’s “Piano Trio in A minor, Opus 50,” Felix Mendelssohn’s “Piano Trio No. 2 in C minor, Op. 66”, and “Spell” by Danish composer Per Nørgård. For more information on the performance, contact Kauai Concert Association President Jason Blake at 652-5210.
Tickets are $25 for adults and $10 for students and are available at the door.
Greg Shepherd is a music professor at Kauai Community College and the former classical music critic for the Honolulu-Advertiser.
