Concordia String Trio concert is February 8

The Concordia String Trio will present a concert on Sunday, February 8, at 3 p.m. in the Dingeldine Music Center, located at 1417 W. Barker Avenue in Peoria. Admission to the concert is free and open to the public. 

The Trio explores and expands the eclectic repertoire of an under-appreciated genre - the string trio. Dedicated to discovering and performing lesser-known gems of chamber music, they will present three diverse works in this program.

String Trio in C Major, Op. 4, No. 1, by the Polish-Austrian composer Jan Kleczynski is from a set of six string trios and is written in the Viennese Classical style. Kleczynski was a contemporary of W.A. Mozart.

The String Trio in C minor, Op. 85, No. 2 by Hermann Berens is a Romantic era work, composed in 1871. Berens (1826-1880) was a German composer who lived around the time of Johannes Brahms. His set of three string trios was first recorded in 2010.

Robert Muczynski’s String Trio was written in 1972. Muczynski (1929-2010) was born in Chicago, studied at DePaul University, and taught throughout the Midwest before joining the faculty at the University of Arizona as composer-in-residence. His published works number more than 50, and include solo piano works, chamber music, and orchestral music often performed by artists and orchestras around the world.

The Concordia String Trio members are Marcia Henry Liebenow, violinist, Concertmaster of the Peoria Symphony Orchestra and faculty member at Bradley University; Leslie Perna, violist, faculty member at the University of Missouri-Columbia and violist of the Esterhazy Quartet; and cellist Karen Becker from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, who also serves as principal cellist of the Lincoln Symphony.

This concert marks the 15th anniversary of the Concordia String Trio’s debut in Peoria. The Trio has performed recitals, educational programs, and given lecture/demonstrations throughout the Midwest, in Boston, Vermont, California, and Texas. The Trio has been a featured ensemble at the Warebrook Contemporary Music Festival, recorded a Capstone CD entitled “90’s Timeflow – Chamber Music of Alan Schmitz,” and has plans to record several Viennese string trios.

For more information, call 309.677.2602.