The chamber music organization Clarinet & Friends is proud to present Trios Three Ways on Saturday, May 11 and Sunday, May 12 in the Asheville area.
The program will feature works from three different musical periods. Beethoven’s exciting Clarinet Trio represents the classical era, Fauré’s elegant Piano Trio reflects the romantic era, and Muczynski’s heroic Fantasy Trio illustrates the neoclassical era.
The concerts will show the evolution of the piano-cello-clarinet trio in the styles and textures implemented from 1797 to 1969. Featured in the concert will be 16 year-old cellist Aaron Chen, 18 year-old pianist Christopher Tavernier, and 15 year-old clarinetist Aaron Lipsky.
Clarinet & Friends was founded by clarinetist Aaron Lipsky in 2018. Lipsky, a sophomore at A.C. Reynolds High School, attended the Brevard Music Center’s (BMC) Summer Institute and Festival in 2017 and 2018. In 2017, he was the youngest student enrolled and in 2018 was a BMC Scholar and a concerto competition semi-finalist. During his time at BMC, he played principal clarinet under Keith Lockhart, the conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra. He is also a two-time recipient of the Ione M. Allen Scholarship for musical study and currently studies with Steve Loew, former solo clarinetist of the U.S. Marine Band. Aaron plays frequently with Dan Weiser and AmiciMusic, and won the 2019 Hendersonville Symphony Orchestra and Asheville Symphony Youth Orchestra Concerto Competitions. This summer he will be attending the Curtis Institute of Music’s 2019 Young Artist Program.
Aaron Chen, Christ School Class of 2020, has been playing cello for 11 years, studying under Frances Duff in Asheville, NC. He won the Junior Division Competition as a 12-year-old at the University of Tennessee and has performing experience in various chamber groups like AmiciMusic and the Asheville Young Musicians Club. Aaron attended the Brevard Music Center in the summer of 2017, has been principal cellist of the Carolina Youth Symphony since 2017 and has been a member of the Asheville Symphony Youth Orchestra since 2015. Aaron won the Asheville Symphony Youth Orchestra concerto competition of 2017 and earned second place in the Carolina Youth Symphony 2017 competition. Aaron was a cellist in the National Youth Orchestra 2 of 2018 and will be participating again in 2019, performing at Carnegie Hall in New York City and the Miami New World Center.
Christopher Tavernier made his orchestral debut with the Tar River Philharmonic Orchestra at the age of thirteen in Rocky Mount, NC, performing Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in the opening concert of the orchestra’s Fall 2013 season. Since then he has won the Hendersonville, Asheville, Augusta, and Charlotte Symphony concerto competitions, and received second prize in the National Elizabeth Harper Vaughn Concerto Competition in Kingsport, Tennessee, where he was the youngest performer in the history of the competition. He was also a winner of the Brevard Music Festival Jan and Beattie Wood Concerto Competition, where he was competing against graduate students. Christopher has also been featured on various stations including ABC affiliate television station WLOS and CBS affiliate WSPA in Spartanburg (Scene on 7). Christopher studies in Spartanburg, SC, with Dr. Douglas Weeks and with Dr. John Cobb in Hendersonville, NC.
Tickets are $18 in advance, $20 at the door, and $15 for church members. A donation is encouraged at Freeburg Pianos. To buy your discounted advance tickets, go to clarinetandfriends.com and click on the “BUY TICKETS” tab.