Photo: The Lee Trio - theleetrio.com
The Lee Trio
The Lee Trio
Concordia University Wisconsin is kicking off its chamber music series by hosting The Lee Trio, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra musicians, and composer Brian Packham. They will offer a free masterclass for music students on March 2, 2:30–4 p.m. in the campus’ Chapel of Christ Triumphant. The following evening, 7:30 p.m. March 3, they will be joined by Matt Ernst, the principal trumpeter of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra; Nash Tomey, MSO associate principal bass; along with the MSO’s Alejandro Duque on viola and Dylana Leung. For the concert, Max Tan will replace Lisa Lee on violin.
Max and Melinda Lee Masur, pianist of The Lee Trio, first met at the Chelsea Music Festival in NYC. Melinda makes her home in Milwaukee with her three children and husband Ken-David Masur, the MSO’s music director. She was delighted to help Concordia start this chamber music series, saying, “That’s the one thing I keep hearing from both musicians and audience members in town—'we need more chamber music!’ So I hope this series will be something that the musicians and locals will embrace and feel like is theirs. The program is super accessible for families, children and adults, and those who may be new to classical or chamber music. And chamber music is such a great way to get up close to the music and music making.”
The Lee Trio is world-renowned after winning the Recording Prize at the Kuhmo International Chamber Music Competition in Finland, 2nd Prize in the G. Zinetti International Chamber Competition in Italy, and the Gotthard-Schierse-Stiftung grant in Berlin among other honors. They have given masterclasses and recitals in major cities around the world.
Stay on top of the news of the day
Subscribe to our free, daily e-newsletter to get Milwaukee's latest local news, restaurants, music, arts and entertainment and events delivered right to your inbox every weekday, plus a bonus Week in Review email on Saturdays.
The masterclass will feature both local music students as well as Concordia University students and is free and open to the public. Melinda shared, “Some main topics we’ll work on with the students will be ensemble playing, rehearsing in small groups, and score study. They’ll have a chance to speak with Milwaukee-based composer, Brian Packham, about his whole composition process.” The masterclass is a chance for people to take an inside look into how professional musicians work and for students to learn from them directly.”
The concert will open with Berceuse from Packham’s Sonata for Trumpet and Piano by Brian Packham. While at Berklee College he was the first student to win the Wind Ensemble composition competition two years in a row. He’s written a wide variety of classical music from orchestral compositions to solo piano in addition to scores for film and theater. Currently he’s the interim music director at Brookfield Congregational Church.
The program concludes with selections from Felix Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio No. 2 in C Minor and Camille Saint-Saens’ Septet in E-flat Major. About the Mendelssohn Trio, Melinda said, “Felix wrote this Trio just a couple years before he died, and it was the last chamber work he saw published before passing. It encompasses all the things and states of being that make up our human life—tumult, longing, intimacy, devastation, and great beauty and hope. He, like all his Romantic counterparts, poured his heart and thoughts into his music, a bit like writing in a journal. And the context in which he wrote his music was a literal chamber, a music room or salon, where he probably shared this piece with his sister Fanny and close friends and family. I can imagine them and Fanny giving him their first thoughts and feedback when hearing pieces for the first time, so close was this circle of artists to each other.”
Melinda added that she chose “this Mendelssohn trio because in its first and finale movement, Mendelssohn quotes a chorale by Martin Luther—a nod to the heritage of Concordia University. Bach used the chorale as the basis for Cantata 130, BWV 130, also known as “Herr Gott Dich Loben Wir,” and is known in English as Old Hundredth from its association with the 100th Psalm. The melody brings the piece to a triumphant close.”
The septet is a neo-classical work composed in 1879–1880 for trumpet, two violins, viola, cello, double bass and piano. Saint-Saens was interested in 17th-century French dance forms which can be heard in several of the movements. It was dedicated to Émile Lemoine, a mathematician, who founded the chamber music society La Trompette. Lemoine had long nagged Saint-Saens for a composition that would justify the name of the society.
Melinda supplied additional information about the music and why she selected it for this program. “It showcases the majestic trumpet throughout and the full range of orchestral string instruments from violin to double bass,” she said. “The piece’s four movements are regal, elegant and joyous. It’s a celebratory way to end this inaugural program of a new series.”
