Merling Trio, November 20, 2011
The Merling Trio possesses tremendous talent, ingratiating tone quality, and unlimited technique. They are formidable.
The audience gave the Trio a prolonged standing ovation and the performers responded with an encore, “Gypsy Rondo”. The pianist played the introduction at an impossibly fast tempo, but then the other two accomplished the impossible and stayed with her to the end!
Richard H. Zoller, Sierra Vista Herald
February, 2008
“The three Merling musicians played with a sound that’s attractive and substantive, with sweet, ripe tone and expressive, red-wine timbre…..their playing left a lasting impression.”
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
April, 2005
This concert is sponsored by Len Lewis & Audrey Olson Smith; Ernie Malamud & Olivia Diaz
About the Merling Trio
The Merling Trio is recognized as one of today’s premier ensembles. A truly international trio, it brings together musicians from Polish, Japanese, and Dutch backgrounds. The Merling Trio has been hailed as a brilliantly distinguished group endowed with remarkable gifts of communication, magnificent precision, and an impeccable blend of sound. The trio made its New York debut in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in 1993, and was named a finalist for the Naumburg Foundation Chamber Music Award in 1994.
The Merling Trio has given numerous recitals throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. Members of the Trio have performed with orchestras such as the English Chamber Orchestra, the Honolulu Symphony, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, the Concerto Soloists of Philadelphia, and the South Carolina Philharmonic, under the baton of such notable conductors as Daniel Barenboim, Simon Rattle, and Christoph Eschenbach. Recent trio performances include concerts for the Lagerstrom Concerts Series at Caltech, the Texas Friends of Chamber Music Series, the Jewel Box Series in Chicago, the Charleston Chamber Music Society, Merkin Hall, and the Antioch College Professional Piano Series. The 2010-11 season will include tours of Georgia, Colorado, Utah, South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida, Ohio, and Michigan.
Several contemporary composers have written works for the Merling Trio, and in 1993, they commissioned and premiered C. Curtis-Smith’s Second Piano Trio. In February 1998, the trio returned to Carnegie Hall for a sold-out performance of a new work by Terry Winter-Owens, commissioned by the Merling Trio with a Commissioning Grant from the American Composers Forum. In 2003, the trio premiered Frank Proto’s Quartet for Piano and Strings with bassist Tom Knificat St. John’s Smith Square in London, England. Performances by the Merling Trio have been broadcast widely on television and radio, including WNYC, WFMT 98.7 in Chicago, Interlochen Public Radio, and Peachstate Public Radio.
In residence at the School of Music at Western Michigan University, members of the trio have also been faculty members at the Schlern International Music Festival and the ENCORE School for Strings. Renowned educators, their students hold positions in major orchestras and chamber ensembles throughout the world. Festival appearances include the Banff Centre for the Arts, the Pensacola Summer Music Festival, the Skaneateles Festival, the Saugatuck Chamber Music Festival, and the Fontana Festival of Art and Music. Recent educational outreach activities include performances and master classes for the California Music Teachers Association, the Music Teachers National Association, the Hawaii International Arts and Humanities Conference, and the American String Teachers Association National Conference.
The Merling Trio has released a number of critically-acclaimed recordings. Their first CD, a collaboration with conductor Dennis Russell Davies, featured works of C. Curtis-Smith and was released by Albany Records in 1995. About the CD, Fanfare wrote, “The composer could not ask for better interpreters.”Piano Trio Classics included works by Haydn, Mozart, Brahms, Schumann, and Liszt and was released by Pamplin Records in 2001. About Centaur Records’ 2006 release of the trio’s recording of works by Piazzolla and Proto, the American Record Guide said, “The Merlings play with a properly stylistic balance between abandon and control. This is an unusual and beautifully played program.” Their most recent recording, “postcards in e”, features works of Shostakovich and Dvorak, and was issued on the MSR Classics label in 2009 to rave reviews.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer said, “The players shaped a grand interpretation, fluent in rhythm and rich in romantic feeling.” The Grand Rapids Press has said, “The trio…delivered a standard of playing that is on par with some of the best known violin-cello-piano teams, captivating the audience through the immediacy and extraordinary sensitivity of its playing.” The London Musical Opinion declared that the Merling Trio “made a powerful impression, with unabashed romanticism and finesse.”
Renata Artman Knific’s (violin)
Her international career began in London when she joined the English Chamber Orchestra at the age of 21. Tours of Europe, North and South America and Asia followed, with artists such as Herman Bauman, Barry Tuckwell, Jean-Pierre Rampal, Maurice Andre, Pinchas Zuckerman, Itzhak Perlman, Isaac Stern, Vladimir Ashkenazy, and Murray Perahia. She worked closely with conductors Daniel Barenboim, Simon Rattle, Edo De Waart and Christoph Eschenbach, and recorded dozens of records for the EMI, Decca, and CBS labels.
Knific is Professor of Music at Western Michigan University. She is the 2007 recipient of the College of Fine Arts Outstanding Service Award. She has also taught at the Encore School for Strings, the Cleveland Institute of Music, the Interlochen Arts Academy, and the Lancut Festival in Poland. She performs and teaches at the Schlern International Festival and Academy in Italy, and at the Skaneateles Festival in New York. Her former students perform in the Cavani, Pro Arte and Cypress quartets and in orchestras throughout the world including the Cleveland, Houston, Honolulu and Sao Paulo Symphonies as well the New York Philharmonic and Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.
Knific is a founding member of the contemporary ensemble, OPUS 21, and has premiered nearly two dozen works by many leading composers in recent years. In 2003, Knific releasedWest of Everywhere, a crossover recording featuring her with a variety jazz greats including Gene Bertoncini, Sir Roland Hanna, John Abercrombie, Jamey Haddad and Billy Hart. In 2004 Leonarda Records released her premiere recording of Marga Richter’s concerto for piano, violin, cello, and orchestra titled Variations and Interludes on Themes from Monteverdi and Bach to critical acclaim. She recently recorded the works for violin and piano by William Bolcom, at the composer’s request, for MSR Classics. The CD has received sterling reviews and was selected as “CD of the Month” by The BBC Music Magazine for February 2008.
BRUCE J. UCHIMURA (Cello)
He is Professor of Music at Western Michigan University where he conducts the University Symphony Orchestra, teaches cello, and coaches chamber ensembles. He joined the faculty in the fall of 1987, having taught previously at the Augusta College Center for Creative Arts, the Augusta Country Day School, Michigan State University, and the Preparatory and Adult Education department of the Cleveland Institute of Music. He taught at the acclaimed ENCORE School for Strings, under the directorship of David Cerone, from 1985-2007.
Mr. Uchimura received the Bachelor of Music degree from The Juilliard School of Music where he studied cello with Leonard Rose and Channing Robbins and chamber music with Felix Galimir and the Juilliard String Quartet. He received the Master of Music degree with an Artists Diploma in Cello from the Cleveland Institute of Music where he studied cello with Alan Harris and chamber music with Koichiro Harada and Bernhard Goldschmidt. He has also studied at the Aspen Music Festival, the Meadowmount School of Music and the Banff School of Fine Arts, and he has held an orchestral fellowship at the Spoleto Festival.
Mr. Uchimura has performed with the Charleston Symphony, the Honolulu Symphony, the Grand Rapids Symphony, the South Carolina Philharmonic, and the Macon (Georgia) Symphony. He served as Principal Cellist of the Augusta (Georgia) Symphony and was the first person ever to be named Associate Conductor of that ensemble. In that capacity he developed and created a highly successful Symphonic Pops and Youth Concert Series. He has also been Principal Cellist of the Greater Lansing Symphony and the Spoleto Festival Orchestra. His activities as a chamber musician include membership in the Augusta Symphony String Quartet and appearances in numerous recitals throughout the United States with the Seraphin String Quartet. As cellist of the Merling Trio for over 20 years, he has performed in 37 states, Europe, and Canada.
Mr. Uchimura has served on the Georgia Council for the Arts Advisory Panel for artist-initiated grants. In addition, he has adjudicated major string competitions throughout the USA including the Illinois Young Artist Competition, the American String Teachers Association Solo Competition, and the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition. His recent activities as a conductor include the Michigan Youth Arts Festival, the Vermont All State Orchestra, the Illinois All State Orchestra, and the Western States Honors Orchestra Festival in Colorado.
Highly esteemed as a teacher, Mr. Uchimura was names 2010 Educator of the Year by the Michigan String Teachers Association. His students hold positions as educators and performers in orchestras around the world, as well as in chamber ensembles such as the La Catrina String Quartet and the Fry Street Quartet.
SUSAN WIERSMA UCHIMURA (piano)
She is a resident artist with the Merling Trio and a member of the piano faculty at Western Michigan University. Previously she served on the piano faculties of the Cleveland Institute of Music and Augusta College in Georgia, and the accompanying faculties of the Meadowmount School of Music and the Aspen Music School.
Ms. Wiersma Uchimura received bachelor of music degrees in theory and piano from the Cleveland Institute of Music and the master of music degree in pedagogy from the University of South Carolina. She has also studied at the Banff School of Fine Arts and in New York with Dorothy Taubman and Edna Golandsky. She has performed with the CIM Symphony, Augusta Symphony, Western String Chamber Orchestra, Cappricio Chamber Orchestra, Battle Creek Symphony Orchestra, and Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra.
Ms. Wiersma Uchimura has performed with major young artists as resident collaborative pianist for the Stulberg Young Artists Auditions, the Music Teacher National Association-Wurlitzer Collegiate Artist Competition, the Encore School for Strings, and the Pensacola Summer Music Festival. She recently concertized with violinists Scott St. John, Jun-Ching Lin, and Ivan Chan.
As a member of the renowned Merling Trio, Ms. Wiersma Uchimura has performed in 38 states, as well as Canada and the United Kingdom. The trio has appeared on prestigious series at venues such as Merkin Hall, the Cleveland Institute of Art, and the Columbus Museum of Art, to broad critical acclaim. The trio’s 2010-11 season will include tours to Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Colorado, Utah, Ohio, and Michigan. Their latest CD, “postcards in e”, featuring works of Dvorak and Shostakovich, was released by MSR Classics in 2009 to broad critical acclaim.
Ms. Wiersma Uchimura has been a member of the board of directors of the Michigan Music Teachers Association. She has served frequently as an adjudicator and has presented numerous workshops and master classes throughout the United States. She is a member of Pi Kappa Lambda national music honor society.
