Gyphon Trio - Apr. 30

Here’s a BCMS record: The Gryphon Trio first performed on our Series in 2009, and yet next season will mark their 6^th concert for us. As I write this, many of you are remembering the recent live-stream they shared in mid-May, a lovely respite from our troubles. The endlessly inventive Gryphon Trio has impressed international audiences and the press with its highly refined, dynamic performances, and has firmly established itself as one of the world’s preeminent piano trios.  With a repertoire that ranges from the traditional to the contemporary and from European classicism to modern-day multimedia, the Gryphons are committed to redefining chamber music for the 21st century.

The ensemble-in-residence at Music Toronto for ten years, the Gryphon Trio tours extensively throughout North America and Europe. Recent performances include those for the Chamber Music Society of Detroit, Northwestern, the Eastman School of Music, Tippet Rise, and Williams College. The Trio – strongly dedicated to pushing the boundaries of chamber music – has commissioned and premiered over seventy new works from established and emerging composers around the world, and has collaborated on special projects with clarinetist James Campbell, actor Colin Fox, choreographer David Earle, and a host of jazz luminaries at Lula Lounge, Toronto’s leading venue for jazz and world music. Their most ambitious undertaking to date is a groundbreaking multimedia production of composer Christos Hatzis’s epic work Constantinople, scored for mezzo-soprano, Middle-Eastern singer, violin, cello, piano, and electronic audiovisual media, which they have brought to audiences across North America and at the Royal Opera House in London. 

The Gryphon Trio has chosen Grammy Award-winning violist Masumi Per Rostad to partner with them for our concert, expanding our programming to the piano quartet. Rostad, professor of viola at the Eastman School of Music, has received praise for his rich and expressive tone, energy, and commanding presence, and has been described by critics as an “electrifying, poetic and sensitive musician.” A member of the Pacifica Quartet, Rostad started studying music at the Third Street Music School Settlement in New York City when he was three years old.