TRIO AGORA
Trio Agora is one of the most innovative chamber music ensembles in Europe. Since it was founded in 2015, the trio has delighted audiences with a repertoire that includes classical works, contemporary compositions and its own transcriptions.
In 2018, the three exceptional musicians won 1st prize at the Rubinstein Chamber Music Competition in Düsseldorf and were finalists in the “Ton & Erklärung” and Ysaÿe (2021) competitions.
With the album “Hotel Tango”, released in 2023, the trio presented a musical journey through the history of the tango - from its roots in the habanera to modern interpretations. The highlight is an original arrangement of Astor Piazzolla's “Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas” by Žilvinas Brazauskas, which combines jazz, dance and classical elements.
Chamber music can be so lively, familiar and yet always surprising - when it is presented by such a “dream team” (concert review).
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
“Seldom is the word “magic” so fitting as it was tonight.”
(Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung)
June 05, 2025 - 7:30pm
(doors open 6:45pm)
Trio Agora
Žilvinas Brazauskas (clarinet)
Natania Hoffman (cello)
Robertas Lozinkis (piano)
program
Johannes Brahms:
Trio for clarinet, cello & piano, op. 114
One of the very late great masterpieces by Johannes Brahms, after he had “discovered” the clarinet for himself - through the brilliant clarinettist Richard Mühlfeld. The music seems to be bathed in a mild light, with a serenity and stillness that seem like a gentle adieu to the world.
Joel Hoffman: Ei jauga jauga
Four-movement sequence of partly melancholic, partly rousing Lithuanian folk songs written by the cellist's father, the Canadian-American composer Joel Hoffman, for his daughter's trio in 2017.
Joel Hoffman: Foxtrot Romeo Juliett Hotel Tango
A short, humorous tango that uses the international phonetic alphabet in its title - and is also the title track of the current CD “Hotel Tango”.
Astor Piazzolla:
Las Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas (arr. Brazauskas)
Piazzolla studied with the legendary Nadia Boulanger in Paris for 18 months and said afterwards: “I studied with her for 18 months, which helped me like 18 years, because she taught me to believe in Astor Piazzolla and that my music was not as bad as I had thought. It was the liberation from being a bashful tango player to a self-confident composer.”
Shortly afterwards, he composed his “Four Seasons in Buenos Aires”