CATALIN SERBAN TRIO
At a very young age, Catalin Serban began his musical education at the George Enescu Music High School in Bucharest. By the time he came to Berlin to study, he had already won prizes at national and international piano competitions and was hailed by critics as a leading representative of the new generation of Romanian musicians.
As a soloist, and chamber musician, Serban performs internationally in major venues including the Konzerthaus Berlin, Berlin Philharmonie, Bucharest Athenaeum, Bremer Glocke, and Stadtcasino Basel.
"The rapturous quality of Serban’s performance is utterly mesmeric.“
(Grammophone Magazine)
Angelo de Leo began taking violin lessons at the age of six. Just five years later, he became a young student at the Stuttgart University of Music; in 2015, he transferred to the Karajan Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic in Berlin.
As a multiple award winner at international competitions, he has participated in recordings for Bayerischer Rundfunk, NDR, and Deutschlandradio. He has been invited to perform at renowned festivals, such as the Heidelberg Spring, the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, and the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival. He has been a member of the Berlin Philharmonic since February 2018 and is a scholarship recipient of the German National Academic Foundation, the LiveMusicNow Association, and the German Music Life Foundation, which, as the winner of the German Musical Instrument Fund competition, has provided him with a violin by Giovanni Francesco Pressenda, Turin 1829.
Moritz Huemer, from Feldkirch (Liechtenstein), began taking cello lessons at the age of five. He studied at the Franz Liszt University of Music in Weimar and at the Berlin University of the Arts (UdK).
From 2022 to 2024, Moritz Huemer was a scholarship recipient at the Karajan Academy, where he studied under Olaf Maninger.
His first position was as associate principal cellist at the Komische Oper Berlin, before he joined the cello section of the Berlin Philharmonic in May 2025—and thus also became one of the legendary 12 Cellists.
Nov. 26, 2026 - 7:30pm
(doors open 6:45pm)
Catalin Serban Trio
Angelo de Leo (violin)
Moritz Huemer (cello)
Catalin Serban (piano)
program:
Franz Schubert: Piano trio No.1 in B-flat-major, op.99
When Franz Schubert turned his attention to the piano trio during the final year of his life, he produced two milestones of the chamber music repertoire in remarkably quick succession: the B-flat major Trio, D 898, and the E-flat major Trio, D 929.
While the latter is marked by darker, more dramatic tones, the B-flat major Trio radiates an almost unshakable sense of warmth and joyful optimism.
Its impact was felt almost immediately after Schubert's death. In 1836, Robert Schumann captured the work's unique spirit with words that have become legendary:
"One glance at Schubert's Trio—and the miserable bustle of human life retreats, and the world shines afresh."
Maurice Ravel: Piano trio in A-minor
Ravel's Piano Trio (1914) is a dazzling display of colour, precision, and imagination: Basque-inspired rhythms animate the opening movement, the Pantoum sparkles with shifting metres, the Passacaille unfolds with elemental power, and the finale expands into an almost orchestral climax.In just under thirty minutes, Ravel combines sumptuous sonorities, dazzling virtuosity, and a restless energy that reflects the tense atmosphere on the eve of the First World War.
Today, it stands as one of the most admired and frequently performed piano trios in the repertoire.