The Zodiac Trio Performs On The Schneider Series at the New School 10/17

On Sunday, October 17th at 2pm, the French-based Zodiac Trio will perform on the Schneider Series at the New School School's Tishman Auditorium, making it the first clarinet-violin-piano ensemble to be presented by the series in its 54-year history.

The concert will feature guest artist - cellist Yeves Dharamraj - in a performance of the Brahms Trio for clarinet, cello and piano in A minor Opus. 114. The program will also include a new work by the famed French composer Nicolas Bacri: "A Smiling Suite," as well as Darius Milhaud's Suite from "Voyager without baggage," and Bela Bartok's legendary "Contrasts" - a pillar of the clarinet, violin, piano repertoire.

The complete program is as follows:

Darius Milhaud - Suite for Clarinet, Violin and Piano from "Voyager without baggage" Opus. 157b
Johannes Brahms - Trio for Clarinet, Cello and Piano in A minor Opus. 114
Nicola Bacri - "A Smiling Suite" (2007)
Bela Bartok - "Contrasts"

The Zodiac Trio (Kliment Krylovskiy, clarinet; Vanessa Mollard, violin; Riko Higuma, piano) was the protégé of the renowned Ysaye Quartet at the Paris Conservatory, and has performed throughout France - including the renowned Festival Radio France Montpelier, the United States, Canada, Sweden, Italy, Japan, and has recent completed a two-week tour of China. The young ensemble has been featured numerous times on Radio France, in the international London-based MUSO magazine, on France 3 television, numerous radio stations in the U.S. and has presented chamber music masterclasses in the United States and China.

The Tishman Auditorium is located at 66 West 12th Street, New York, NY 10011. Tickets are $17.50 general admission, $15 seniors citizens, $5 stand-by tickets for students thirty and younger with school ID and are available by calling 212.229.5488, by emailing boxoffice@newschool.edu or in person at The New School Box Office at 66 West 12th Street, main floor, Monday-Thursday 4:00 to 7:00 p.m., and Friday 3:00 to 6:00 p.m.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

The acclaimed French/American Zodiac Trio is considered by many to be the leading clarinet-violin-piano ensemble performing today, with a concert schedule that spans three continents. Protégé of the renowned Ysaye Quartet at the Paris Conservatory, the Zodiac Trio has performed at such leading venues as the famed Festival Radio France Montpellier in France and the Oriental Performing Arts Center in Shanghai, has been broadcast by France 3 Televsion and has recorded multiple times for Radio France in Paris. In June of 2010, the Zodiac Trio performed a six-city tour of China where the young ensemble was welcomed on the countries leading stages and was invited to present masterclasses at the China Conservatory in Beijing.

Featured in the London-based international MUSO magazine as one of the most exciting new chamber groups on the concert circuit, the Zodiac Trio has been praised by critics for their "impeccable technique" (Ouest-France), "remarkable musicality of rare intensity" (La Tribune, France), "truly exceptional and sublime talent" as well as being declared "excellent, talented and committed" by the New York Concert Review and "awe-inspiring" by NYC.com

The young ensemble has graced many foremost stages throughout the US, Europe, Japan and China. Representing the three different nations of Japan, Russia and France, the Zodiac Trio originally formed in New York in 2006 and has since appeared at such venues as Walter Bruno Auditorium at Lincoln Center in NY; Oriental Performing Arts Center in Shanghai; the Corum in Motpellier and the Acropolis in Nice, France; Izumi Hall in Osaka, Japan and Radio France in Paris, among many others. Notably, the trio collaborates with Yovan Markovich, cellist of the famed Ysaÿe Quartet in extended programs.

2009-10 season highlights include performances on the Festival Radio France Montpellier, Russian River Music Festival and Old First Concerts in California, Lincoln Friends of Chamber Music in Nebraska, Preston Bradley Hall at the Chicago Cultural Center, Merkin Concert Hall in New York, Berklee College of Music in Boston, Mount Allison University in Canada, Pro-Musica Festival and Festival Autour d'une Piano in France, numerous recordings and broadcasts on Radio France and France 3 television, and an extensive two-week tour of China, performing on some of the country's leading venues. The Zodiac Trio has also been invited to present chamber music master classes at Boston University, Boston Conservatory and the China Conservatory in Beijing.

During the 2010-11 season, the Zodiac Trio will perform on the Schneider Series in New York, St. Vincent College Concert Series, Virtuosi Series in Winnipeg, Manitoba; The Four Seasons Performing Arts Centre in Toronto, Berklee College of Music in Boston, Boston Conservatory, Bennington College, University of California Berkeley, Old First Concerts in San Francisco and Salle Cortot in Paris, among others. The season will also feature the ensemble in residency at the Berklee College of Music, Boston Conservatory and University of California Berkeley. In the Spring of 2011, the Zodiac Trio will present a major contemporary music project in France and the U.S. that will feature two commissioned works written for the trio in a 7-concert tour.

Shortly after its inception at the Mahattan School of Music, the Zodiac Trio debuted with a concert at the Kaufman Center prompting Edith Eisler of the New York Concert Review to describe the young ensemble as "...excellent, talented and committed...". The debut was followed by a tour of Southern France where the trio was further praised by the local media: "...unforgettable concerts by the Zodiac Trio! ...Truly exceptional and sublime talent... The prestigious level of the performances radiated the undeniable talent of the trio and foreshadowed their great success in the future." - raved the Nice-Matin. Since then, the Zodiac Trio has been awarded prizes at a number of national and international competitions including the Yellow Springs Chamber Music Competition, FNAPEC Ensemble Competition (Paris), International Chamber Music Competition of Duchi D'Aqcuaviva (Italy), Val Tidone International Music Competition (Italy), the Cziffra Foundation (France), Joyce Dutka Foundation for the Arts (New York), International Peninsula Young Artist Festival in California and the ProMusica Ensemble Competition (France), among others. The ensemble also received a Recording Grant and Commission Grant from Co-Op press, are laureates of the 6th International Osaka Chamber Music Competition in Japan, and were recently awarded the Encore Grant from the American Composers Forum to support their collaboration with composer Andrew List.

The Zodiac Trio's performances and recordings continue to be broadcast consistently on National Public Radio, WNYC and WQXR in New York, Radio France and Musique Classique in France, as well as many other radio stations across the United States.

Strong advocates of new music, the trio has commissioned new works in order to expand the clarinet-violin-piano trio repertoire, and strive to serve as a platform of exposure for up-and-coming composers. Their debut commercial recording included two works written for the ensemble. Currently the Zodiac Trio is involved in a number of collaborative projects with emerging composers both in the United States and France, bridging the two countries and fueling an exciting cultural exchange. Aside from trios, the young ensemble often presents sonatas to bring a large variety to its audiences in the scope of a single concert.

In 2007, the Zodiac Trio made Paris their headquarters, where they are on the artist roster of the Cziffra Foundation, an organization dedicated to promoting Europe's top young artists. The young ensemble was chosen by Culture France to receive moral and financial support from the « Declic » Program, partner with the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Mecenat Musical Societe General. The Zodiac Trio also enjoys the generous support of the Swiss Global Artistic Foundation.

 

YEVES DHARAMRAJ, cellist

Throughout his career, YVES DHARAMRAJ has developed a reputation as a dynamic cellist who blends an immaculate command of the instrument with deep musical understanding to express his fresh artistic interpretations. Regarded as "a strikingly mature and gifted musician" (Edmonton Sun), the young Franco-American cellist enjoys a career that takes him to major venues across the United States and abroad. At the age of 16, Mr. Dharamraj made his professional concerto debut performing Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variations with the Florida Orchestra under the baton of Thomas Wilkins. Met with critical acclaim, the cellist has since been recognized as one of the next generation's leading artists. As part of the Juilliard School's Centennial Celebration, he was invited to perform William Schuman's A Song of Orpheus at Avery Fisher Hall with James DePriest and the Juilliard Orchestra. Other appearances with orchestra include performances with the Houston Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Green Bay Symphony and the Atlantic Classical Orchestra, among others.

Mr. Dharamraj's festival appearances include La Jolla's Summerfest, i Palpiti, Music@Menlo, Canada's National Arts Centre, Steans Institute at Ravinia, Banff Centre for the Arts, Sarasota Music Festival, and the Museum of Modern Art's Summergarden. He made his radio broadcast solo debut on WFMT 98.7 FM Chicago on the Dame Myra Hess Series. The cellist was chosen to attend the Perlman Music Program's inaugural season and recently had the honor of collaborating with the world-renowned violinist Itzhak Perlman at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium.

Yves Dharamraj explores the rich chamber music repertoire as a founding member of the Moët Trio. He has collaborated with members of the Orion, Cleveland, Guarneri and Tokyo Quartets and with Miriam Fried with "Musicians from Ravinia." He has performed in Jordan Hall, the Kennedy Center, 92nd St Y, and Carnegie's Weill and Zankel Halls. He performs regularly in France, recently toured Japan, and had the diplomatic honor of performing and teaching in Thailand in celebration of HRH Princess Galyani Vadhana's seventh cycle birthday.

In addition, Mr. Dharamraj belongs to Ne(x)tworks, a cutting-edge group of performing composers, and has toured with the Grammy Award-nominated Yale Cellos. His discography includes the works of Earle Brown with Ne(x)tworks (Mode), the chamber music of Valentin Silvestrov (Koch), and the music of Dave Brubeck with the Yale Cellos (Naxos).

Mr. Dharamraj has won top prizes in the Ima Hogg, Klein, Juilliard, and Florida Orchestra Competitions. He has presented himself in master class with Yo-Yo Ma, Bernard Greenhouse, William Pleeth, Frans Helmerson, Christoph Eschenbach, Gary Hoffman, Gilbert Kalish, Claude Frank, Pinchas Zukerman, and members of the Beaux Arts Trio and Tokyo, Juilliard, Cleveland, Orion, Emerson and Guarneri String Quartets. Yves Dharamraj began his cello studies at age four and performed in public soon afterward. In 1998 following studies with Mussie Eidelman and Scott Kluksdahl, he matriculated at Yale University where he graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in History, a Master of Music, and an Artist Diploma under the guidance of the renowned pedagogue Aldo Parisot. He further studied in Joel Krosnick and Darrett Adkins's studio at the Juilliard School as the recipient of the 2004 Victor Herbert Scholarship and the prestigious 2005 C.V. Starr Doctorate of Musical Arts Fellowship. Dharamraj has also worked with Paul Katz at the New England Conservatory as recipient of the Florence Gould Scholarship. He now teaches cello at Juilliard as assistant to Mr. Krosnick.

Dharamraj plays an 1842 Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume cello. In his leisure time he loves to learn about and indulge in great Burgundy and Bordeaux wines and is a passionate supporter of the Chicago Cubs, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Arsenal FC.