Zodiac Trio with Wolfram Koessel, Chamber Music at the Clark

Seats will be available for purchase on Tuesday, December 5 at 12:00 p.m. noon, via the following link. General admission seats are $40, and UCLA student seats (for UCLA students only, valid UID for each student required) are $10. Seating at the Clark Library is limited.
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Program

Richard Danielpour (1956– )
“Lamentations”

Johannes Brahms (1833–1897)
Trio for Clarinet, Cello and Piano

Olivier Messiaen (1908–1992)
Quartet for the End of Time

Zodiac Trio with Wolfram Koessel

Kliment Krylovskiy, clarinet
Vanessa Mollard, violin
Riko Higuma, piano
with Wolfram Koessel, cello

One of today’s premiere clarinet-violin-piano ensembles, the Zodiac Trio is known for presenting masterpieces for their unconventional instrumentation alongside hidden gems, arrangements, and the occasional duo/solo in a concert experience marked with a special gusto, virtuosity, and energy.

The Zodiac Trio’s story begins in New York in 2006 when three young musicians from the Manhattan School of Music decided to join forces in an unconventional ensemble, and spearhead a career dedicated to the clarinet-violin-piano instrumentation. The Zodiac Trio was officially launched with a concert at Merkin Concert Hall in New York City and presented to the classical music listeners by WQXR’s Young Artist Showcase. Understanding that extraordinary results require extraordinary efforts, one year after its founding the newly-minted Zodiac Trio decided to move to Paris to attend the Paris Conservatory under the guidance of the Ysaye Quartet and their unique chamber music program – becoming the first American group and first ensemble with a wind instrument to be accepted to the program.  Their formative years in Paris were laced with victories on the international chamber music circuit, with prizes from the Cziffra Foundation, the FNAPEC Chamber Music Competition, the International Carlo Saliva Competition, the International Chamber Music Competition Duchi D’Acquaviva, the International Chamber Music Competition Val Tidone, as well as the Yellow Springs Chamber Music Competition, among others. In 2008, the London-based MUSO magazine took notice and shone light on the ensemble in a two-page feature.

Today the Zodiac Trio enjoys an international concert schedule that consistently spans three continents and is recognized by many to be one of the foremost clarinet-violin-piano ensembles performing today.  Since its formation, the Zodiac Trio has managed to achieve a level of recognition on the international chamber music stage, rarely bestowed upon an ensemble of such untraditional instrumentation.  The Zodiac Trio’s extensive touring schedule has brought it to many premiere international venues such as Ottawa Chamberfest,  Festival Radio France Montpellier, International Colmar Festival, Beijing Performing Arts Center, Izumi Hall in Japan, and Lincoln Center in New York.  The trio’s live performances have been broadcast by France 3 Television, Radio Classique, Beijing’s CCTV News, Canada’s CBC Radio and Television, NBC, New York’s WXQR and WNYC, Chicago’s WFMT, Boston’s WGBH, Italy’s RAI, and Radio France in Paris.

Over the years, the Zodiac Trio has garnered wide critical acclaim for their unyielding passion for the clarinet-violin-piano instrumentation, their unbending dedication to perfection, and the thrill of sharing their love for chamber music with their audiences.  The group has been praised for their “impeccable technique” (Fanfare Magazine), “remarkable musicality of rare intensity” (La Tribune, France), “seemingly effortless ease” (San Angelo Standard Times), “truly exceptional and sublime talent” (Nice-Matin, France); and declared by the French newspaper La Marseillaise as “one of the best chamber ensembles of its generation…”

Since their first touring season nearly a decade ago, the Zodiac Trio has performed in nearly 40 states, as well as Canada, Sweden, Scotland, France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Japan and, notably, in over 30 different cities in China over the span of four extensive tours.  In addition to performing, the ensemble has been invited to present master classes and clinics at such institutions as the Manhattan School of Music, San Francisco Conservatory, Roosevelt University, University of Minnesota, Tulsa University, University of Missouri, Western Michigan University, Colorado College, Boston Conservatory, Berklee College of Music, Tufts University, Southeastern University of Oklahoma, China Conservatory of Beijing, Mount Allison University, Acadia University, and many others.

Considering its novel instrumentation, the Zodiac Trio has carried the torch for new music since its debut concert, which featured a world premiere of a work written for the then newly-formed group.  Since then, the Zodiac Trio has commissioned over three dozen new works, including from Grammy-award-winning composer Richard Danielpour, and has had over 100 works written via call-for-score.  Their 2015 album DREAMTIME featured 3 works written for the ensemble, and received accolades from the new music community with Sequenza21 writing “the Zodiac Trio excel at bringing new compositions to life.”

In 2013, wanting to further incorporate pedagogy into their modus operandi, the Zodiac Trio founded an international chamber music academy and festival in the South of France: Zodiac Music Academy & Festival (www.zodiacfestival.com).  The summer festival invites highly advanced students and pre-professionals to spend two weeks performing on the Côte D’Azur and studying with an internationally renowned faculty, led by the Zodiac Trio. Now in its seventh season, ZMAF  has grown to be recognized as a competitive and selective academy that attracts over 200 applications each year from many top schools across North America.

The Zodiac Trio is represented exclusively by Latitude 45 Arts (www.latitude45arts.com).

https://www.zodiactrio.com/

Wolfram Koessel
​
Since his critically acclaimed Carnegie Hall debut, cellist Wolfram Koessel has embarked on a diverse career as a soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician, performing internationally in the world’s most distinguished concert halls. The Strad magazine wrote of “the exceptionally attractive cello playing of Wolfram Koessel,” who has established himself as a sought-after musician, performing concertos with the Jupiter Symphony, the New York Metamorphoses Orchestra (which he co-founded in 1994), Jerusalem Symphony, the Osaka Symphony, the Mannes Orchestra, and symphony orchestras in Stuttgart, Cordoba, Mendoza, Costa Rica, Iowa, and New York.

In 2006 Mr. Koessel joined the American String Quartet, with whom he performs regularly at the Berlin Philharmonie, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Köln Philharmonic Hall, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Kimmel Center, among others.  He has performed with artists such as Rene Fleming, Richard Stolzman, Edgar Meyer, Menahem Pressler, Zakir Hussain, Ute Lemper, Sharon Kam, Jeremy Denk, and many more.

He is on the cello and chamber music faculty at the Manhattan School of Music and also in residence at the Aspen Music Festival and the Great Wall Academy in China. He served as Music Director of the Mark Morris Dance Group from 2004–2008 and has toured extensively with the company, performing hundreds of concerts and world premieres with them worldwide.

Based in New York City, Mr. Koessel appears with a wide range of ensembles and chamber music groups such as Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic. Performances in 2019–20 led Mr. Koessel to Japan, Germany, South America, Spain, Canada, Mexico, and across the United States. He is a founding member of the group Trio Ink, with violinist Yosuke Kawasaki and pianist Vadim Serebryany.

https://www.wolframkoessel.com/

Chamber Music at the Clark
Professor Rogers Brubaker, Artistic Director

Chamber Music at the Clark is made possible by The Ahmanson Foundation, under the auspices of Lee Walcott; The Colburn Foundation; Martha Bardach; Catherine Glynn Benkaim, Ph.D. and Barbara Timmer; Dr. Rogers Brubaker; Dr. Susan Harris and Mark Harris; Judy Hellinger; Henry J. Bruman Endowment for Chamber Music; Dr. Sheldon H. Kardener and Monika Olofsson Kardener; Elaine and Bernie Mendes; Janet Minami; Bette I. and Jeffrey L. Nagin; Dr. Jeanne Robson; Carol E. Sandberg; Jackie Schwartz; Dr. Patricia Bates Simun and Mr. Richard V. Simun Memorial Fund; Patricia Waldron, M.D., and Richard Waldron; and Roberta and Robert Young.

Please see here for more information about our chamber music programs.

Composite image: Photograph courtesy of Wolfram Koessel. Zodiac Trio photograph credit: Marta Krakowka, courtesy of the artists.