Merz Trio Brings Brahms Piano Trios to the Wilson Center

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Photo: The Merz Trio - merztrio.com

The Merz Trio

The Merz Trio

What’s in a name? The Merz Trio adapted their name from the term used by 20th-century German impressionist artist Kurt Schwitters to describe his collages of scavenged scrap materials. The Trio, pianist Fei-Fei Dong, violinist Brigid Coleridge and cellist Julia Yang, frequently incorporate other arts into their performances. 

Here is a quote from their website:

We love investigating other people’s messiness. Alongside our ‘traditional’ recitals, we create original inter-disciplinary projects, sometimes just with ourselves and our extra-musical interests, more often with inspiring and generous artists. So far, we’ve brought our music into conversation with dancers, directors, chefs, sommeliers, puppeteers, and graphic designers, and each time we collaborate, we understand the music that we play differently …  Art happens where people are. We hope you'll come along for the ride.

Their upcoming performance features all three of Johannes Brahms’ piano trios, rarely heard together in one concert. “In this beautifully pared-back concert, we are able to conduct an intimate exploration of that artist’s imagination and development within a particular musical form,” Coleridge says. “And we find it quite moving that Brahms remained fascinated with the piano trio throughout his life—in his later years, he was revising the trio he wrote when he was 20 So in a sense, for us this concert offers a particular perspective on a life in music.” 

At a pre-concert Q & A session led by the Wilson Center’s former executive director, Anna Thompson, the audience will have a chance to ask the musicians questions.

Brahms composed three piano trios: No. 1 in B flat Op 8 was composed in 1854 when he was only 20. It was extensively revised in 1889 and is almost 10 minutes shorter when performed. The Trio will play the revised version. The same soaring melodies are in both. The four movements alternate between B major and B minor. 

Trio No. 2 in C Major Op 87 was written between 1880 and 1882. It is one that Brahms held in particularly high regard. Listen for motifs inspired by Hungarian themes in the 2nd movement. Ms. Coleridge points out that “this second movement forms the emotional heart of the trio, its theme and variations evoking an intimacy that contrasts starkly with the outward-looking first and fourth movements.” The scherzo sparkles purportedly because of critiques by Clara Schuman.

Trio No. 3 in C minor Op 101 is somber Brahms at his best. It was composed in 1886. There is enough sound and material for a symphony. Indeed, the last movement may remind you of Beethoven’s Fifth. 

This is the Milwaukee debut of the Merz Trio who are rising stars of the international chamber music scene having won the Naumburg, Fischoff, and Concert Artists Guild competitions. They’ve played at venues around the world including Carnegie Hall, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, The Schubert Club in Minneapolis and Washington’s Strathmore Hall. 

Currently based in the Northeast, they were in residence at Boston’s New England Conservatory from 2018-2021.

Furthering the Wilson Center’s mission to deliver a lifetime of arts education and experiences, the Merz Trio will offer a Masterclass on Friday morning in the Elmbrook School District, meeting orchestra students and playing a number of selections while exploring how music interacts with text, language, and poetry.

The Merz Trio will perform the Complete Brahms Piano Trios, 8 p.m. Friday, October 13, with a 7 p.m. pre-performance talk with the artists, at Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts, 3270 Mitchell Park Drive, Brookfield. For more information, visit wilson-center.com.