The 96th season of first-class chamber music from the Tuesday Musical Club's Artist Series opens this week with the sounds of the award-winning Trio con Brio Copenhagen at 2 p.m. on October 9, at Laurel Heights United Methodist Church. The group is based in Denmark and was formed in 1999 by pianist Jens Elvekjaer, and sisters Soo-Jin Hong and Soo-Kyung Hong (to whom Elvekjaer is married).
After nearly 20 years, Elvekjaer says their working relationship has deepened such that “it is easier to communicate the message of the music with great conviction,” but there are still practice habits the trio works on before every concert. “We polish certain places, and fix transitions in the music so that we can feel the excitement in the modulations and emotions as strongly as possible in the performance,” Elvekjaer explained by email.
For this program, Elvekjaer says “All of the pieces are some of the greatest works for piano trio. From Haydn’s elegant and witty music with the gypsy finales, to Smetana’s tragic and deeply emotional music, and ending with a Brahms masterpiece that he composed as a young man and then reworked as a mature composer.”
“I think they together work wonderfully as a program,” Elvekjaer continues, “making this music a fantastic picture of both youth and wisdom in one!”
Trio con Brio Copenhagen is also hard at work on recording and releasing a series of the complete Beethoven works for piano trio. Elvekjaer says they’ve discovered so many layers to the composer’s music, “from emotions to philosophy to architecture, to revolutionary ideas.”
It’s not the trio’s first visit to Texas, but asked if they remembered what their impressions were of the Lone Star State before their first trip, Elvekjaer recalled, “As Europeans, of course we have the cowboy image from our childhood, and [watching] movies, and it was very different from that. We have performed in Houston, San Antonio and Austin, and also in the countryside. In the countryside it is so great to see the ranches and the vast landscapes.”
Elvekjaer praised San Antonio’s great food scene, and the museums and Riverwalk, and also added that they’re bringing a guest with them to town. “We hope to be able to buy a cowboy hat for our daughter who is joining us on this tour!!”
CONCERT INFORMATION Trio con Brio Copenhagen Tuesday, Ocotober 9 2:00 p.m. Laurel Heights United Methodist Church Tickets: $25
