Trio con Brio Copenhagen to Bring Noridic Flair to Classical Program at Meany Hall, 4/8

Trio con Brio Copenhagen-Korean sisters Soo-Jin Hong and Soo-Kyung Hong and Danish pianist Jens Elvekjaer-is the recipient and winner of several prestigious awards and competitions including the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson International Trio Award, one of the most coveted in the world of chamber music. The Trio belongs unquestionably to the upper echelons of young chamber ensembles performing today.

Trio con Brio Copenhagen performs at Meany Hall Tuesday, April 8, 2014 at 7:30pm. Please note that Soo-Jin Hong is on maternity leave. Violinist Natalia Prishepenko replaces Soo-Jin for the tour. Prishepenko was violinist for the Artemis String Quartet for 18 years. Meany Hall is located on the Seattle campus of the University of Washington.

There are times when two plus two can equal three. Trio con Brio Copenhagen is one such instance, where family ties, cultural blending, and musical connections all converge to color, shape and energize the concerts they present worldwide. Korean sisters Soo-Jin and Soo-Kyung Hong and Danish pianist Jens Elvekjaer created the Trio in Vienna in 1999 with the concept of pairs coming together. The sisters had played together since childhood, and Jens Elvekjaer and Soo-Kyung Hong (who are now married) had played piano and cello duos together for years. According to Mr. Elvekjaer, "We have always felt that this 'two and two equals three' dynamic provides a uniqueness and intensity to all of our performances."

The Trio first commanded international attention with a performance that took the highest prize at Germany's prestigious ARD-Munich Competition in 2002. Since then, it has won First Prize in additional competitions: Italy's Premio Vittorio Gui (Florence), Norway's Trondheim Chamber Music Competition, and the Danish Radio Competition. The ensemble also was awarded the "Allianz Prize" in Germany's Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. In 2005, Trio con Brio Copenhagen was the recipient of the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson International Trio Award.

Trio con Brio Copenhagen's busy schedule includes major concert halls in Europe, the U.S. and Asia, such as Tivoli Concert Hall (Copenhagen), the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Carnegie Hall (New York City), Wigmore Hall (London), the Konzerthaus Berlin, the Mozart-Saal (Vienna), the Seoul Arts Center (Korea), Bunka Kaikan (Tokyo), and Teatro Olimpico (Vicenza, Italy).

Trio con Brio Copenhagen is frequently featured as soloists in Beethoven's Triple Concerto with orchestras. In 2011 the trio premiered a new Triple Toncerto by the renowned Swedish composer, Sven-David Sandström, with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra and Kristjan Järvi in Copenhagen's Koncerthuset. The following year, they were invited to perform the Triple Concerto with the Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra for Sandström's 70th birthday concert in the Stockholm Konserthus.

The Trio creates their programs to include the core well-known repertoire as well as contemporary compositions from Scandinavia. Renowned composers such as Per Nørgård, Bent Sørensen and Hans Abrahamsen have written works for the trio.

In 2014 Trio con Brio Copenhagen has been invited to play the Schubert trio cycle in The Royal Library in Copenhagen ("The Black Diamond"), after the great success of their complete Beethoven (2010) and Brahms trio cycles (2012).

The Trio's sound benefits from the superb instruments all three play: Soo-Jin plays a violin built by Andrea Guarneri from the 17th century, Soo-Kyung plays a Grancino cello, and Jens is Denmark's first Steinway Artist.

In addition, Trio con Brio founded and serves as artistic directors of both the Copenhagen Chamber Music Festival and the Hellerup Chamber Music Society in Copenhagen.

The UW World Series is one of Seattle's leading performing arts organizations, presenting innovative, provocative, and diverse international artists in music, theater, and dance. More than 450 visiting artists from around the world have performed as part of the UWWS. The eclectic mix of programming has given Northwest audiences a broad view of the world of performing arts, from sampling unique cultural traditions to experiencing innovative new works that expand the scope and direction of contemporary performing arts. The UW World Series' mission includes supporting the educational goals of the University of Washington by providing extensive arts learning opportunities for UW students and faculty, area school children and teachers, and members of the community at large.

Tickets are $34-39. Call 206-543-4880, or order online at uwworldseries.org. Tickets may also be purchased in person at the UW Arts Ticket Office, located at 1313 NE 41st. Or fax your order to the Ticket Office at 206-685-4141. Tickets are subject to availability. Artists, dates, programs, and prices are subject to change.

Discounts are available for students, seniors (65+), UW Alumni Association members, and UW employees. UW student tickets start at $10. Seating restrictions may apply. Tickets are subject to availability.

The UW World Series offers up to two Free Youth Tickets (ages 5-17 only) with the purchase of every Regular Price ticket to any Chamber Music or President's Piano Series event. The Free Youth Ticket was created to engage young audiences in classical music, encourage families to share the experience of hearing great music together, and extend our educational experiences from the classroom to the concert hall.

Disability seating with up to three companion seats per disability space is available for all UWWS events. Reservations for disability seating must be made at the time of purchase. Please contact the UW Arts Ticket Office at 206-543-4880 for specific seating options and availability.

Watch a clip of the trio performing below!

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