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Blending old and new

Trio de Moda relishes intimate settings of chamber music
0510 Trio de Moda
St. Albert's Neda Yamach, left, Kathleen de Caen and Clayton Leung, also known as Trio de Moda, perform at Spruce Grove's Saint John Lutheran Church of Golden Spike this Sunday. CIARAN TWOMEY/Photo

PREVIEW

Trio de Moda

Sunday, Oct. 6 at 3 p.m.

Saint John Lutheran Church of Golden Spike

51301 Rge. Rd 274

Spruce Grove

Admission by donation

If your datebook for Sunday is blank, grab your coat and join Trio de Moda at Saint John Lutheran Church of Golden Spike.

The Edmonton-based chamber string trio takes music to the people, and some of their most beloved performances have taken place within the walls of acoustically perfect churches.

Despite the limited number of instruments, the newly formed trio's chamber music offers diverse options of instrumental colour.

Trio de Moda’s outstanding musicians are St. Albert’s Neda Yamach (violin) as well as Clayton Leung (viola) and Kathleen de Caen (cello). Both Yamach and Leung perform with Edmonton Symphony while de Caen plays with Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra (CPO).

Not only are they creative interpreters of the old masters, but the three musicians also push boundaries with more modern scores.

Their Spruce Grove debut brings together the highly refined and dynamic music of Hungarian composer Ernö Dohnányi, Beethoven and Alberta composer Arthur Bachmann, a violist with CPO.

The trio plays both Dohnányi’s romantic Serenade in C major for String Trio as well as Beethoven’s dance-infused Serenade D major for String Trio.

“Dohnányi’s string trio is a popular work. One reason we’re playing it is because Beethoven influenced Dohnányi in his writing. It would be nice for the audience to listen and draw parallels from the two composers,” said Yamach.

They also play two movements from Bachmann’s as of yet untitled new work. However, one movement is titled Wood Poppy and the other is Wild Iris. Both are inspired by nature.

“Arthur’s composition is melodic and almost sounds like film music. There are a lot of fluctuations and unexpected turns within each movement. Even with the fluctuations and turns, you can hear they all are related to each other.”

On a side note, the trio is also performing Jacques Ibert’s Five Pieces for String Trio, originally written for bassoon, oboe and flute, as well as Johan Halvorsen’s Passacaglia for Violin and Viola.

“We hope to introduce audiences to music and compositions not often heard and to draw attention to local composers like Bachmann. And even Dohnányi. I don’t know how well people know him outside musical circles.”

 

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