New York Nocturnes: The Apollo Trio

This concert by the Apollo Trio centers on David Schiff’s lively and imaginative work, New York Nocturnes. Written in 2000, the work presents a series of nostalgic tableau of the composer’s youth in New York City. Cast in a form immediately recognizable as a work of classical chamber music, the musical language draws on jazz idioms from Duke Ellington, Art Tatum, Cole Porter and others.  An unusual mash­up of classical and jazz, New York Nocturnes is a work at once complex and toe-­tapping.  The rest of the program includes pieces by the father of chamber music, Josef Haydn, and a brilliant, perfect, timeless masterpiece from Felix Mendelssohn, his Piano Trio No. 1, Op 49.

Violinist Curtis Macomber, cellist Michael Kannen, and pianist Marija Stroke play together as the Apollo Trio. Bringing together three of the most respected and experienced chamber music players in the country, the Apollo Trio was formed in 1997 after playing together in the Soirées des Junies Music Festival in the south of France and has performed to critical acclaim in the United States and in Europe. In addition to frequent appearances at American music festivals – from the Mostly Mozart Festival in New York to Chamber Music Northwest in Portland, Oregon, and on chamber music series throughout the United States – the trio has also performed at prominent New York venues, including Caramoor, Bargemusic, Avery Fisher Hall, Weill Hall at Carnegie, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. The Apollo Trio was featured in the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s “Great Day in New York” Festival at Alice Tully Hall in 2001 and made its Kennedy Center debut in 2009.

Tickets: $15 general admission, $10 seniors, $5 students, free for UMBC music Majors and Music faculty/staff. Tickets available at the box office (PAHB 238 – cash or check only) or online viaMissionTix.com.