Performers

BLAKE POULIOT, violin
MICHAEL NICOLAS, cello
JAMES AUSTIN SMITH, oboe
RACHEL BREEN, piano

This concert explores expressive contour in three distinct musical languages, from Handel’s eloquence to Bacewicz’s intensity to Mendelssohn’s fire. An arrangement of Handel’s Largo from the Trio Sonata in G Minor opens the program with elegance and understated beauty, an ideal of Baroque poise and lyrical line. Bacewicz’s trio follows, offering a taut, rhythmic dialogue for oboe, violin, and cello, at once playful and probing, and bold. The program concludes with the stormy lyricism of Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio in C Minor, a harmonically rich work that channels grief and defiance into a powerful creative statement.

Violinist Blake Pouliot is known for his charismatic stage presence and spellbinding playing. Cellist Michael Nicolas is a member of Brooklyn Rider quartet and a sought-after artist with a massive discography to his name. Oboist James Austin Smith is an advocate for contemporary and historical repertoire and “proves an oboist can have an adventurous career,” says The New Yorker Pianist Rachel Breen, equally at home with Bach and modernism, has been recognized for her showstopping performances.  Together, these artists traverse through centuries of chamber music with insight and imagination.

Program

HANDEL Trio Sonata for 2 Violins and Continuo in G Minor, HWV 393 "Dresden" No. 2, III. Largo
GRAZYNA BACEWICZ Trio for Oboe, Violin and Cello
MENDELSSOHN Piano Trio in C Minor

Tickets: Age 35+: $38 | 22-34: $20 | 21 & Under: Pay What You Wish.