Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center premieres composer Tower's Piano Trio at the Quick Center for the Arts | Press Releases

Image: Neubauer The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center returns to the Quick Center for the Arts at Fairfield University on Saturday, April 26 at 8 p.m. with a Conn. premiere of a new work for piano trio by composer, Joan Tower and a selection of her most admired models of chamber music works, Beethoven and Haydn. Dvorák's piano trio is included in the evening's fare. Journalist Robert Sherman will hold a pre-concert Art to Heart discussion from 7-7:40 p.m. Tickets are $35.

Tower's piano trio, Trio Cavany (2007), is so named for the three organizations that co-commissioned the work: the La Jolla Music Society (CA), the Virginia Arts Festival (VA), and The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (NY). In an interview prior to the world premiere of the piece in La Jolla, Tower said "Evoking emotions is important to me - I try to make my music visceral and engaging," a statement for which the Cavany Trio provides ample evidence. She went on to describe the composition as "progressing from poignant to aggressive.... It is a work that tries to negotiate different paths of emotional extremes - going from soft tender lyricism to more aggressive rhythmic patterns of wild dances." The piece, for piano, violin and cello, is played by pianist André-Michel Schub, violinist Cho-Liang Lin, and cellist Gary Hoffman.

Another Tower composition on the evening's program, Wild Purple for Viola Solo, was written for and performed by Paul Neubauer. The composer wrote of Wild Purple , "I always thought of the viola sound as being the color purple. Its deep, resonant and luscious timbre seems to embody all kinds of hues of purple. I never thought of the viola as being particularly wild, so I decided to see if I could write a piece that had wild energy in it and meet the challenge of creating a virtuosic piece for solo viola."

The program also includes Beethoven's Variations in E-flat major for Piano Trio, Op. 44 and Haydn's String Trio in G major, Op. 53, No. 1; along with Dvorák's Piano Trio in F minor, Op. 65.

Tickets are available online at fairfield.edu/quick or by calling the Box Office at (203) 254-4010. The toll free number is 1-877-ARTS-396. For more information, please visit the website at fairfield.edu/quick.