Lee Dionne, piano

Brigid Coleridge, violin

Julia Yang, cello

Hailed as “entrancing” (BBC Music Magazine) and "artists in the deepest sense of the word" (CutCommon), Merz Trio was named winner of the 2021 Naumburg Chamber Music Award, at the time made up of pianist Lee Dionne, violinist Brigid Coleridge and cellist Julia Yang. They have established themselves at the forefront of the US chamber music scene with recent and forthcoming debuts at Carnegie Hall, Amsterdam's Concertgebouw, Chamber Music Houston, Duke Performances, Coleman Chamber Music Association, The Schubert Club (St. Paul, MN), Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and Tippet Rise, among others. They were also named winners of the Concert Artists Guild, Fischoff, and Chesapeake Competitions as well as recipients of a Salon di Virtuosi Career Grant. They have been lauded for their “stunning virtuosity... fresh and surprising interpretations” (Reading Eagle), and “perfection of intonation and ensemble” (Hudson Review).

Merz Trio is passionately committed to reshaping the narrative of classical music through vibrantly dynamic programming and wide-ranging interdisciplinary collaboration. Their narrative programming style juxtaposes classical standards, new music, and their own arrangements of familiar and forgotten works, fluidly interwoven and guided with speaking from the Trio’s members. Their interdisciplinary collaborations include ongoing projects with directors Emma Jaster and Jon Levin, dancer Caroline Copeland, and Sandglass Puppet Theater.

The Trio are equally known for their immersive integrations of music and text in performance, ranging from their recital-theater piece built around Shakespeare’s Macbeth (“Those Secret Eyes,” 2019), to their concert / album interweaving Ravel’s Trio with short pieces, poems, and diaries of the era (“Ink Spills" / "Ink," 2021), to their presentation of Tchaikovsky's Trio alongside unexpected diary excerpts and a range of works from Jeffrey Mumford to Alma Mahler ("undiluted days," 2022). In their prolific arranging, the Trio are committed to uplifting overlooked voices from history, ranging from Hildegard von Bingen to Lili and Nadia Boulanger, from Joséphine Baker to Irish folk melodies.

From Merz Trio's violinist Brigid Coleridge: "The most thrilling thing about our work is the energetic communities that it has produced. Merz Trio loves to be in community with others. We love talking and getting carried away - in the rehearsal room, on stage, after the concert. We understand what we do as a conversation between ourselves, the composer, our audience, and the changing world we step into each day. Our name, Merz, speaks to this: It’s the term coined by German artist and polymath Kurt Schwitters, who once floor-to-ceiling decorated his parents’ house in Hanover with found objects and insisted that art only occurred in shared spaces. So Merz refers to connection, to sharing, to possibility. And yes, we’re very glad Schwitters didn’t live with us."

Merz Trio have been encouraged in their explorations by numerous institutional homes around the world: New England Conservatory, Yellow Barn, Snape Maltings, Avaloch Farm Institute, the Naumburg Foundation, the Lake Champlain, Olympic, and Chesapeake Music Festivals, and the Fischoff Competition, as well as many other venues and hosts around the US, Australia and the UK. They are currently represented by Concert Artists Guild.

As part of their Naumburg prize, Merz Trio received a Naumburg commission, Piano Trio No. 1 "Music and Friends" by George E. Lewis. The work received its world premiere on April 17, 2023 in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall.

Today Merz Trio includes Amy Yang, piano; Brigid Colereidge, violin and Julia Yang, cello.

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‍Merz Trio (Naumburg program)

Monday Evening, April 17, 2023 at 7:30pm Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall

M E R Z T R I O, 2021 Chamber Music Award

Lee Dionne, piano│Brigid Coleridge, violin│Julia Yang, cello

Program

Four Songs of Alma Mahler and Alban Berg arr. and assembled by Merz Trio

Die Stille Stadt (from Five Songs, No. 1) Alma Mahler

Traumgekrönt (from Seven Early Songs, No. 4) Alban Berg

Laue Sommernacht (from Five Songs, No. 3) Alma Mahler

Sommertage (from Seven Early Songs, No.7) Alban Berg

Hymn O ignee spiritus Hildegard von Bingen  arr. Merz Trio

My Fleeting Angel (2005) Cheryl Frances-Hoad

Intermission

Piano Trio No. 1 “Music of Friends” George E. Lewis, World premiere, 2021 Naumburg commission

Piano Trio No. 2 in C Major, Op. 87 Johannes Brahms

La valse, poème chorégraphique pour orchestre Maurice Ravel

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Currently Merz Trio includes Amy Yang, piano; Brigid Coleridge, violin and

Julia Yang, cello.

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