Beacon Street Trio

Beacon Street Trio

 

Wednesday, January 11, 2017
8:00 p.m.
Winifred Smith Hall

Free admission. Public is welcome.

Please join the trio for a special Master Class at 1:00 p.m. in Winifred Smith Hall.

Beacon Street Trio
Luke Hsu, violin
Rainer Crosett, cello
Sophie Scolnik-Brower, piano

Program:
Gabriel Fauré, Trio in D Minor, Op. 120
Claude Debussy, Sonata for cello and piano in D Minor
Maurice Ravel, Pièce en forme de Habanera
Maurice Ravel, Trio in A Minor

“They gracefully spun out Faure’s lines and underlined his gorgeous harmonic changes without overplaying. The central Andantino is a wonderful example of that sensuality. Its aching melody was sung out by violinist Luke Hsu and cellist Rainer Crosett. They played soulfully with generous vibrato but refined phrasing. Their partner, pianist Sophie Scolnik-Brower, rippled out quiet cascades of notes, limning the melody when it flowed into her part.” - San Diego Tribune, August 2016

About the Beacon Street Trio

The members of the Beacon Street Trio met at the New England Conservatory in Boston in the autumn of 2014. The three artists, Luke Hsu (violin), Rainer Crosett (cello), and Sophie Scolnik-Brower (piano), quickly discovered their love of playing together, and gave their first public performance in December of 2014 at New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall under the guidance of Vivian Weilerstein, Donald Weilerstein, and Lucy Chapman.

The trio was one of two Fellowship Artist ensembles at La Jolla Music Society’s SummerFest in the summer of 2016, where they worked with Cho Liang Lin, John Kimura Parker, and Pinchas Zukerman, to name a few. Among their many noteworthy performances there, the San Diego Tribune praised the trio for its understatement and harmonic sensitivity in Faure’s Trio in D Minor: “They gracefully spun out Faure’s lines and underlined his gorgeous harmonic changes without overplaying.”  The review continued:

“The central Andantino is a wonderful example of that sensuality. Its aching melody was sung out by violinist Luke Hsu and cellist Rainer Crosett. They played soulfully with generous vibrato but refined phrasing. Their partner, pianist Sophie Scolnik-Brower, rippled out quiet cascades of notes, limning the melody when it flowed into her part.”

In addition to working together as a trio, the individual members frequently collaborate in other combinations and settings. Crossett and Scolnik-Brower have played together throughout their high school years at Phillips Academy Andover and their college years at Harvard University; Hsu and Crosett frequently perform as a duo; and Scolnik-Brower and Hsu are working on several projects together.

As individuals, their accolades include first prizes at competitions such as the ISANGYUN Competition, the New England Conservatory Concerto Competition, and the Borromeo String Quartet Guest Artist Award. They have attended festivals including Yellow Barn, Aspen Music School, and Casals Festival at Prades, and have toured throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. Chamber music is at the heart of each of their individual careers, and they each collaborate frequently in performance with luminaries in the field, such as Kim Kashkashian, the Parker String Quartet, Roger Tapping, the Borromeo String Quartet, Anthony Marwood, and Robert Levin.

Hsu is currently pursuing further graduate study at the Royal Academy of Music with Rodney Friend; Crosett is pursuing graduate studies at the University of Southern California with Ralph Kirshbaum; and Scolnik-Brower continues to perform throughout the country. They come together frequently on both coasts to spend time rehearsing and developing their career as a trio.

(Photo: Luke Hsu, Sophie Scolnik-Brower, and Rainer Crosett.)

Dates: 
Wednesday Jan 11, 2017, 1:00 pm
Wednesday Jan 11, 2017, 8:00 pm