Trio con Brio Copenhagen

“One of the greatest performances of chamber music I’ve ever encountered.” – American Record Guide

“Superb…Any group would be hard-pressed to imitate this blend of verve and poise…” – Gramophone

“Glowing reports hold true. The Trio con Brio Copenhagen clearly occupies a lofty perch in today’s musicscene.” – Washington Post review of Kennedy Center Performance

The program will include performances of Haydn’s Piano Trio No. 44 in E major, and Tchaikovsky’s Piano Trio in A minor. The program will include Haydn’s Piano Trio No. 44 and Tchaikovsky’s Trio in A Minor. Based in Denmark and recognized as a leading international performance group, the trio was born out of an idea of the coming together of ‘musical pairs’ – of the two Korean-born sisters, Soo- Kyung Hong (cello) and Soo-Jin Hong (violin), and of Soo-Kyung and her husband, Danish pianist Jens Elvekjaer.

The American Record Guild hailed their concert as “one of the greatest performances of chamber music…ever encountered.” The ensemble has won nearly every major competition for piano trio and today they are regularly heard at the world’s leading venues and concert series, including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Wigmore Hall, Berlin Pierre Boulez-Saal, the Concertgebouw, the Kennedy Center and more.

Paul Galbraith

“Paul Galbraith has something near genius.” – Classical Music

“His musicality is so ‘authentic’ that every note carries the hallmark of truth. He held his audience in rapt silence as if spellbound by some magician.” – The Scotsman

“I’ve never heard anyone play like this. Galbraith seemed to have transcende technique and established a personal connection with an inner source. Everything sounded like a masterpiece that evening.” – Classical Guitar

“Exceptional artistry.” – The New Yorker

“Worth traveling long distances to hear.” – The Guardian, UK

“A concert of extraordinary clarity and precision.. some of the most delectable sounds I have heard on a guitar.” – Colin Cooper, Classical Guitar

“Mr. Galbraith’s technique was not a gimmick, but a tool to create music. His phrasing was superbly clear and executed with ease . . . a memorable and musically convincing concert.” – Guitar Review

“What many had come to see and hear was the revolutionary change he has brought to playing the guitar . . . the results were truly remarkable, with an amazing clarity and a huge dynamic range I have never before heard from any guitarist. The audience was held spellbound.” – The Sunday Times

“Playing of mind-boggling brilliance. His technique is breathtaking, yet at no time was it in any way more important than the music.” – The Scotsman

Paul Galbraith is internationally renowned as one of the foremost guitarists of our time. His revolutionary approach to guitar playing has made him an instantly recognizable figure in classical music, but it is ultimately his interpretative breadth which has captivated audiences the world over.

Paul plays a unique 8-string guitar, which he developed in 1993 together with renowned luthier, David Rubio. As a convenient means of differentiating it from the traditional 8-string guitar, Rubio called it the Ê»Brahms Guitarʼ, reflecting Rubio’s enthusiasm for the way this guitar, with its rich sound and wide range, performed in the music of Brahms, through Paul’s transcription and rendition of the Op21a Variations.

On this instrument, Paul has recorded a series of highly acclaimed albums, most famously Bach’s complete Solo-violin Sonatas & Partitas, which was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1998.

An individual approach to guitar posture was developed early on when, at age 20, following a period of intense investigation into technique, Paul discovered a playing position which allowed equal freedom of movement for both arms. Within three years, this developed into the cellist’s posture he is associated with today.

Paul began concertizing in his late teens, having come to public attention in Great Britain through a series of televised competition successes. Since then, Paul has performed throughout the European Union, as well as in China, South America, Russia, Norway, Australia, Canada and India. From the early nineties onwards, he has toured regularly throughout the USA.

Paul has appeared with several of the major orchestras and ensembles in Britain and Europe, such as: the BBC Orchestras, the Royal Philharmonic, the St Petersburg Quartet, the English Chamber Orchestra, the Halle, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the European Chamber Orchestra, the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, and the Shanghai Quartet. Most recently he has formed a duo with legendary Brazilian cellist, Antonio Meneses.

Maxwell Quartet

“Take note of the Maxwell Quartet – they bring wit, charisma and a sense of adventure to their programmes” – The New York Times

“This music had a mystery, delicacy, and depth that made you want to hear it again instantly” – The Observer

“A young ensemble whose fresh, unaffected playing marries technical brilliance with an authentically Haydnesque joie de vivre”
– Gramophone

1st Prizewinner and Audience Prizewinner at the 9th Trondheim International Chamber Music Competition in 2017, and hailed as “brilliantly fresh, unexpected and exhilarating” by The Scottish Herald, and “superb storytelling by four great communicators” by The Strad Magazine, the Maxwell Quartet is now firmly regarded as one of Britain’s finest young string quartets, with a strong connection to their folk music heritage and a commitment to bringing together wide-ranging projects and programmes to expand the string quartet repertoire.

The quartet performs regularly across the UK and abroad, at venues including London’s Wigmore Hall, Purcell Room, Queen’s Hall, Perth Concert Hall. After its success at Trondheim in 2017, the quartet has toured widely across Europe, with performances in France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, and Portugal, including at Tivoli Concert Hall, Muziekgebouw Amsterdam, Stavanger, Schiermonnikoog, Wonderfeel Festivals, Lammermuir Festival, Fjord Classics, Cheltenham, St Magnus, and many other festivals across Europe.

The Maxwells’ debut tour of the USA in January 2019 garnered critical acclaim from the New York Times (“eloquent performers who bring the same sense of charisma and sense of adventure to their programming”), and saw the group performing to sold outvenues in New York, Florida, California and Washington. Their USA Tour in 2020 spans three months and sees them performing in over 30 states, with performances at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, and a residency at Music in The Vineyards Festival in Napa, CA. The quartets collaborators have included the Danish String Quartet, composer/clarinettist Mark Simpson, pianist Benjamin Grosvenor, and composer/electronic musician Anna Meredith. The Quartet’s debut CD on Linn Records, released in March 2019 and featuring string quartets by Haydn alongside the quartet’s own compositions based on Scottish traditional folk music, received unanimously glowing reviews from international press.

SPONSORS

UNDERWRITER

MYRA FOUNDATION

PREMIUM SPONSORS

This project is supported in part by a grant from the North Dakota Council on the Arts, which receives funding from the state legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts.

SUPPORTERS
$50 – $100

James & Melanie Popejoy
Marilyn Bakke in memory of Jerome Bakke
Bob & Dawn Boyd
Richard & Phylis Clark
Nancy & Mark Hadlich
Dave & Cec Lambeth
Barb Nistler
Sharon & Gerald Preuss
Thomas and Alice Rand
Jay and Eileen Seeger
Jerry Severson
Devara Warcup
Boyd Wermedahl