LONGLEASH Trio – Midtown Arts Common

This classical concert series is presented by Midtown Arts Common in cooperation with Saint Peter's Church. Performances are held in the Sanctuary of Saint Peter’s Church on most Tuesdays at 8:00 P.M.

About the musicians

LONGLEASH was formed in the Spring of 2013 by violinist Pala Garcia, cellist John Popham, and pianist Renate Rohlfing, with the purpose of performing, recording, and writing about important piano trio works of our time. Praised for navigating “an incredible breadth of musical styles with technical expertise and expressive innovation” (Feast of Music), LONGLEASH has quickly garnered a reputation, in the US and abroad, for innovative programming, artistic excellence, and advocacy on behalf of 21st Century composers.

LONGLEASH begins the 2014-15 season with a live performance on WUOL radio in Kentucky and the Loretto Motherhouse Series, performing works by Schubert and Bent Sørensen, followed by two performances at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, as part of the Museum’s “Met Balcony Bar” Series. It continues

its season with two international residency programs: the Trondheim Chamber Music Festival in Norway, where the trio will perform in several concerts under the festival’s auspices, and the Avaloch Residency Program in New Hampshire. LONGLEASH has earned a spot in many performance series throughout the season, including concerts at the St. Peter’s Church in Manhattan, Queen of the Hudson in Newburgh, NY, and the South Huntington New York Library music series.

In its inaugural season, LONGLEASH developed many close relationships with working composers, and performing their works in concert. These composers include Beat Furrer, Klaus Lang, Reiko Füting, and Ken Ueno, with World and US premiere performances of works by Younghi Pagh-Paan, Scott Wollschleger, Ken Ueno, and Chris Swithinbank. Performance venues included the Center for New Music (San Francisco), the DiMenna Center For Classical Music (New York), and the Ira Malaniuk Saal at the Kunstuniversität Graz (Austria). LONGLEASH commissions in progress include new works for piano trio by Evan Antonellis and Scott Wollschleger. Equally committed to the education of young composers and instrumentalists,

LONGLEASH presented lectures, workshops and composition readings at the Manhattan School of Music and at Ohio University, as part of a multi-day residency. Its work on behalf of American composers was recently recognized by Columbia University’s Alice M. Ditson Fund for American music, awarding the trio a performance grant for Spring 2015.

LONGLEASH specializes in avant-garde piano trio works of the 20th and 21st century, but includes standard-practice works in its repertoire, examining them through the lens of contemporary composition and performance. Through carefully curated programming, the trio shares with its audiences the piano trio genre as it stands today — its paradoxical asymmetry, timbral diversity, and rich historical context.

Program

Trio in E-flat Major, Op. 148 “Notturno” (1827) – Franz Schubert (1797-1828)

Cantico delle Creature (2007) – Caroline Shaw (b. 1982)

Trio in E-flat Major, Op. 100 (1827) - Franz Schubert (1797-1828)