Artist Series Concerts Presents The Prize-Winning Merz Trio With Violist Jordan Bak, January 23

Artist Series Concerts presents the groundbreaking young Merz Trio, performing with another star on the rise, 27 year-old Jamaican-American violist Jordan Bak, Sunday, January 23, 4 p.m. at Temple Sinai, 4631 South Lockwood Ridge Road, Sarasota.

Their program, entitled 'Soliloquy and the Artist's Voice,' includes showcases for viola by Henri Vieuxtemps and contemporary composers Anne Leilehua Lanilotti and Jeffrey Mumford, the Trio's own arrangement of Four Songs of Alma Mahler and Alban Berg, Cheryl Frances-Hoad's My Fleeting Angel and Brahms' Piano Quartet No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 60, the 'Werther Quartet.'

Tickets are $40 and are available online at www.ArtistSeriesConcerts.org or by calling 941-306-1202, Monday - Friday, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

The Trio was formed when three young, individually accomplished musicians (Brigid Coleridge, violin; Julia Yang, cello; and Lee Dionne, piano), met and hit it off in the middle of a New York City snowstorm in December 2016. They launched their first season in November 2017 and have since made a sweep of major US competitions, winning the 2021 Naumburg, 2019 Concert Artists Guild, 2019 Fischoff, and 2018 Chesapeake Competitions. They have performed at venues and festivals around the world and in August 2021 released their debut album "Ink" which is now nominated for four Grammy awards.

Their Sarasota program, 'Soliloquy and the Artist's Voice,' is no exception. Works by contemporary composers Anne Leilehua Lanzilotti and Jeffrey Mumford are followed by the Trio's own arrangement of art songs by Alma Mahler and Alban Berg and Cheryl Frances-Hoad's powerfully lyrical and virtuosic work My Fleeting Angel for Piano Trio. The program then concludes with a deep dive into the emotional richness of Brahms' C Minor Piano Quartet, the 'Werther' Quartet, designed, like all of the pieces in the program, to connect back to the theme of soliloquy. "This is a compelling and keenly crafted program and it is sure to be played with the dazzling yet elegant virtuosity that we've come to expect of these four remarkable young artists," says Daniel Jordan, director of artist programs for Artist Series Concerts. "We're all very excited to see this concert."

Joining the Merz Trio will be Jordan Bak, the 27-year-old Jamaican-American violist who is captivating audiences internationally with his radiant stage energy and smooth yet robust alto sound. Recent recital debuts include performances at London's Wigmore Hall, New York's Merkin Concert Hall and Alice Tully Hall, Boston's Jordan Hall and chamber music tours with the Musicians from Marlboro and CAG (Concert Artists Guild) on Tour. Bak was recently chosen to perform an all-solo recital in the opening series of the Violin Channel's highly acclaimed Vanguard Concert Series.

"The Merz Trio and Jordan Bak are examples of the many artists whose concerts were originally planned for late 2020 or early 2021 and had to be rescheduled due to the pandemic," notes Marcy Miller, executive director of Artist Series Concerts. "We're very fortunate to have been able to re-engage both the Trio and Jordan Bak because their careers have been on a meteoric rise even since then. Catch them while you can!"

COVID-19 update: Artist Series Concerts' top priority remains the health and safety of its patrons, performers and staff. The organization is a partner in SafeArts Sarasota and will be following the policies and protocols set forth by this initiative. Protocols will continue to be revisited and revised and Artist Series Concerts will also continue to comply fully with the current requirements of each of its eight venues. Updates and the most recent COVID-19 statement can be seen at www.ArtistSeriesConcerts.org.

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