Tanya Stambuk, Brittany Boulding, Kevin Krentz: 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 1
TACOMA, Wash. – Franz Schubert, the musical genius who died before his work won global fame, and Felix Mendelssohn, the master of composition who defied the romanticism of his era, will be the featured composers at a performance by the Finisterra Piano Trio.
The acclaimed Finisterra Piano Trio will return to the University of Puget Sound for a Jacobsen Series concert, starting at 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 1, in Schneebeck Concert Hall. The trio includes artists Tanya Stambuk, piano; Brittany Boulding, violin; and Kevin Krentz, cello. Ticket information and a map of campus are below. The evening program will include:
Piano Trio in c minor, Opus 66, by Felix Mendelssohn
Piano Trio in E-flat Major, Opus 100, by Franz Schubert
“Mendelssohn’s c minor piano trio is a work that encompasses urgent and sweeping themes, which are elaborated with immense skill and deep emotion. It is a masterpiece and a joy to perform,” said Stambuk, a piano professor at the University of Puget Sound.
“To explain Schubert is to explain a miracle,” she added. “Schubert’s E-flat piano trio is among the most sublime chamber works ever written.”
Critics describe the Mendelssohn piece opening the night as a showcase of the composer’s art, maintaining the charm and texture of the classical era, at a time dominated by Romanticism. The piece was composed in 1845, two years before the German composer’s death, at age 38. It opens with a fiery lead by the piano, followed by a graceful duet between violin and cello, and finishing with an exultant conclusion that earsense.com describes as a “victory of light over dark.”
Some consider Schubert’s Piano Trio in E-flat Major to be among the greatest piano trios written in the traditional repertory. It was the only work published outside of Austria before Schubert’s untimely death, at age 31, and one of the few to be publically performed. The work is intense and passionate, graceful and joyous, sparkling, and bold.
Finisterra Piano Trio, one of the most recognized chamber ensembles in the Northwest, has performed in England, Italy, and across the United States. Known for its keen interpretive work, the trio is artist-in-residence at The Seasons concert series in Yakima, Wash., and The Phoenix Concerts series, in New York City. Formed in 2003, it has been featured on broadcasts by National Public Radio and Seattle classical radio station KING FM.
Finisterra took a silver medal at the Salieri-Zinetti International Chamber Music Competition in Italy and won the Green Lake National Chamber Music Competition in Wisconsin. The group recorded the complete piano trios of American composer Daron Aric Hagen for the Naxos label, a recording hailed by NPR as one of the five best American contemporary classical albums of 2010.
Tanya Stambuk, piano, has appeared internationally as a guest soloist with orchestras including Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, France; Virginia Symphony Orchestra; Civic Orchestra of Chicago; Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, in Norway; and the Seattle Symphony. Stambuk was described as "a player with a powerful technique, ideas of her own, and considerable promise" by The New York Times. She has made guest appearances on radio in New York City, Moscow, and Croatia, and she appeared on the television program In Praise of Women Pianists. She has performed at venues including Merkin Concert Hall in New York City, Academy of Music in Philadelphia, The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., and the Chicago Cultural Center. Stambuk recorded Norman Dello Joio and won the international piano competition at the Auditório Nacional Carlos Alberto in Portugal. She is a graduate of The Juilliard School and Rutgers University.
Brittany Boulding, violin, has performed as a soloist with orchestras across the United States and abroad, including Olympia Symphony Orchestra; Pacific Northwest Ballet; Seattle Festival Orchestra; New Haven Symphony Orchestra, in Connecticut; National Repertory Orchestra, of Colorado; Orquesta de Cámara Concierto Sur, of Cuba; and at the Spoleto Festival USA, in South Carolina. She also has performed as a concertmaster across the United States and internationally. She is concertmaster of the Northwest Sinfonietta and Auburn Symphony Orchestra and a member of the Seattle Symphony and Seattle Opera. Boulding studied at Rice University and the Colburn School in Los Angeles. A Pacific Northwest native, she grew up performing and recording with her family, the internationally acclaimed Magical Strings.
Kevin Krentz, cello, enjoys a multifaceted career as a performer, teacher, inventor, and artistic director. He is the Methow Valley Chamber Music Festival's artistic director in Washington state and artistic director of the Relevancy Project, a concert series performed at Seattle University, where he teaches. Krentz has been a winner in the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, with his trio, In Flight 3, and was a winner in the Salieri-Zinetti International Chamber Music Competition in Verona, Italy. He is also the founder of Krentz String Works, which primarily develops and sells his inventions, including the Krentz Modulator, which can be found in nearly every major symphony globally since its launch in 2013. Other innovations have involved aspects of instrument tone enhancement and accessory designs.
The Jacobsen Series, named in honor of Leonard Jacobsen, former chair of the piano department at Puget Sound, has been running since 1984. The Jacobsen Series Scholarship Fund awards annual music scholarships to outstanding student performers and scholars. The fund is sustained entirely by season subscribers and ticket sales.
FOR TICKETS: Tickets are available online at tickets.pugetsound.edu, or Wheelock Information Center, 253.879.3100. Admission is $15 for the general public; $10 for seniors (55+), students, military, and Puget Sound faculty and staff. The concert is free for current Puget Sound students. Group ticket rates are available for parties of 10 or more by calling 253.879.3555 in advance. Any remaining tickets will be available at the door.
For directions and a map of the campus: pugetsound.edu/directions
For accessibility information, please contact accessibility@pugetsound.edu or 253.879.3236, or visit pugetsound.edu/accessibility.
Press photos of the Finisterra Piano Trio can be downloaded from pugetsound.edu/pressphotos.
Photos on page: Top right: Trio members from left: Tanya Stambuk, Kevin Krentz, Brittany Boulding; Above: Grand piano interior, by Opus33
Tweet this: Hear Mendelssohn, Schubert, with Finisterra Piano Trio @univpugetsound. Fri Apr 1. Superb! #Tacoma http://bit.ly/1Q3HsKf
Follow us on Twitter! twitter.com/univpugetsound