St. John School of the Arts Presents Ahn Trio on Jan. 10

St. John School of the Arts

St. John School of the Arts will open its doors next week and welcome the Ahn Trio in concert at 7:30 p.m., Friday, Jan. 10. This starts off the Sis Frank Concert Series and kicks off the school’s 40-year celebration.

The Ahn Trio, comprised of three very talented sisters: Maria on cello; Angella on violin; Lucia on piano, has been coming to St. John for two decades. The late Sis Frank, who was then SJSA executive director and co-founder, heard them in concert as Julliard students and brought them to St. John in the 1990s. Throughout the years, the Ahn Trio has been performing around the world, embarking on different collaborative works with dance companies and expanding their classical performance to include other music genres such as jazz and rock-n-roll. This gives their program a unique and unforgettable music experience that leaves their audience wanting more.

Such luminary composers as Michael Nyman, Maurice Jarre, Pat Metheny, Paul Schoenfield, Mark O’ Connor, Kenji Bunch, Nikolai Kapustin and Paul Chihara have written works for them. The trio’s latest CD, “Lullaby for My Favorite Insomniac” (released by Sony), is a showcase of their fearless creativity, which made No. 8 on the Billboard Charts for 26 weeks in the Classical album category.

In two decades of touring, the Trio has performed in all 50 states and in over 30 countries, and it has recorded six albums. The first, a recording of Ravel and Villa-Lobos trios garnered rave reviews, with Audio Magazine praising, “This is one of Ravel’s best and never better played.” The next EMI recording of trios by Dvorak, Suk and Shostakovich, won Germany’s prestigious ECHO Award. An MTV appearance on Bryan Adams’ “Unplugged” inspired the trio to make “Ahn-Plugged” (EMI), and “Groovebox” (EMI) soon followed. The Trio recently formed LAMP (Lucia Angella Maria Productions), producing “Lullaby for My Favorite Insomniac.” This album led to a fruitful relationship with Sony. Meanwhile, the sisters made a joint album, “Smetana” (Warner), with the Czech Grammy-winning rock group Tata Bojs.

Maria, Lucia and Angella thrive on dissolving the barriers between art forms. They have fused their work with a range of artists and musical genres from dancers and lighting designers to DJs. The Trio enjoyed their successful collaboration with the David Parsons Dance Company, touring extensively to critical acclaim. More recently, they performed in the Czech Republic with the Tata Bojs to sold-out shows.

The Trio is thrilled to add “March of the Gypsy Fiddler” to their repertoire, a triple concerto written for them by Mark O’Connor. They are also excited to continue to collaborate with the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company.

The Ahns frequently enjoy having guest artists join them on stage. Recent favorites include the Kin, a two-brother rock band from Australia, as well as electronic music artist Juno, aka Superdrive, from Berlin. It is precisely this vitality and commitment to innovation that has the Ahn Trio continually drawing new audiences to classical music.

Dedicated to educating and inspiring the next generation of musicians, they are passionate about sharing their knowledge. Angella is a Professor of Violin and Viola at Montana State University, in Bozeman, Mont. Maria teaches cello and is the head of the String Department at the Harlem School of the Arts in NYC. Lucia has a growing private studio. They hold master classes and workshops across the United States and around the world. Whether they are performing in Vienna’s Musikverein, Buenos Aires’ Teatro Colon, New York’s Lincoln Center, Leipzig’s Gewandhaus, Beijing’s Concert Hall or Istanbul’s Aya Irini in Topkapi Palace, they share their innovative spirit and ever-evolving vision of music.

Tickets cost $35 or $150 for the series tickets, which include the five concerts in the 2020 Sis Frank Concert Series. Purchase online at www.StJohnSchooloftheArts.org or call 779-4322. The St. John School of the Arts has 10 free student tickets on a first-come, first-serve basis. The doors will open at 7 p.m.