Join us on Saturday, November 30 at 2:00 pm for a performance by Trio Phōs, a clarinet trio based in New York City. Their program features music by Beethoven, Brahms, Karim Al-Zand, and Shih-Hui Chen.
Program
| Composer | Work | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Ludwig van Beethoven | Trio in B-flat major, Op. 11 “Gassenhauer” | 1797 |
| Karim Al-Zand | Quelques Fleurs | 2010 |
| Shih-Hui Chen | Our Stories, Our Songs | 2025 |
| Intermission | ||
| Johannes Brahms | Clarinet Trio in A minor, Op. 114 | 1891 |
About the Ensemble
A recipient of the 2024 New World Symphony BLUE Grant for its project The Sound of Connection, Trio Phōs is a fresh collaboration between clarinetist Yasmina Spiegelberg, cellist Julia Yang, and pianist Sophiko Simsive. The musicians are sought-after performers and core members of acclaimed and internationally prize-winning ensembles, including the Merz Trio and the Claremont Trio, alumni of Ensemble Connect and New World Symphony, and have performed across the globe at festivals such as Marlboro, Tippet Rise, Verbier and Yellow Barn.
Their name Phōs, from the Greek word φῶς for “light” and “firelight”, implies the ensemble’s stir to light up their own corner of the chamber music world through virtuosic programming, exciting commissions, and highly innovative collaborations and projects. Together, Simsive, Spiegelberg, and Yang are drawn towards the piano-clarinet-cello instrumentation through a shared love of the ensemble’s textural breadth, its repertoire, and a desire to create unique concert experiences that forge connections between the old and the new.
About the Artists
Yasmina Spiegelberg
Hailed for her “enchanting” performances (New York Classical Review) and her “lambent tone and persuasive phrasing” (Oberon’s Grove), Swiss-French clarinetist Yasmina Spiegelberg is the laureate of several international and national competitions including the Rotary International Competition Madrid Velazquez, the Frances Walton Seattle Competition, and the USC Concerto Competition. Additionally, she was awarded the Special Prize at the 2nd Vienna International Music Competition, and the Golden Medal at the 4th Manhattan International Music Competition. Her clarinet trio, the Tandru Trio, was the winner at the Beverly Hills National Auditions in 2019. With her woodwind quintet, ConnectFive, she was an Ensemble Forward Grantee through Chamber Music America.
Yasmina holds a Bachelor’s from the Haute Ecole de Musique de Lausanne (Switzerland) and the Conservatorium van Amsterdam (The Netherlands), as well as a Master in Performance from the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo with Björn Nyman. She also earned a Graduate Certificate and an Artist Diploma from the University of Southern California with world-famous Professor Yehuda Gilad.
Julia Yang
Praised for “her sense of joyful virtuosity” as concerto soloist (South Florida Classical Review), Julia Yang is a courageous and soulful cellist, multi-faceted performer, and founding member of the “riveting” (Reading Eagle) and “impeccably elegant” Merz Trio (All About the Arts) and freshly minted clarinet-cello-piano ensemble, Trio Phōs.
On stage as soloist and chamber musician, Yang has been described as the “stunning find of the evening” (New York Classical Review) and has been noted for her “dark, voluminous tone” and “utterly compelling” performances (South Florida Classical Review). Yang maintains an active concertizing solo and chamber schedule with recent and forthcoming recitals in Carnegie Hall, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Houston’s Dacamera, Philadelphia’s Chamber Music Society and Amsterdam’s Het Concertgebouw.
She has performed throughout the United States and internationally in Europe, Australia, Canada and Mexico. As concerto soloist, she has performed with the New World Symphony Orchestra, Central Florida Symphony Orchestra, and Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra with 2025 concerti performances with the Granville Newark Symphony Orchestra and The Ohio State University Symphony Orchestra.
Yang holds degrees from Northwestern University and the New England Conservatory, studying with Hans Jørgen Jensen, Laurence Lesser and Yeesun Kim, as well as former teachers Greg Sauer and Lubomir Georgiev.
Sophiko Simsive
Hailed as an “exceptional musician of rare talent who promises to become one of the leading pianists of her generation” by pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Simsive began her studies at the age of three and, since then, has been invited as a recitalist to prestigious venues such as Berliner Philharmonie and Concertgebouw. Simsive has performed with the Residentie Orkest, Yale Philharmonia, Noord Nederlands Orkest, Jeugdorkest Nederland, and MSM Philharmonia, and has worked with conductors such as Lev Markiz, Peter Oundjian, Jan Willem de Vriend, and Jurjen Hempel.
Simsive is the newest pianist of the prestigious Claremont Trio. She has performed with chamber groups including the Calidore String Quartet and has collaborated with prominent musicians such as Kian Soltani and Gilbert Kalish. As soloist and chamber musician, she has been featured at renowned festivals including the Yellow Barn Festival, the Music Academy of the West and the Verbier Festival. Simsive serves as a Senior Teaching Assistant at Yale University, where she co-teaches alongside violinist Wendy Sharp. She also serves as a Chamber Music and Private Piano Instructor at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music.
Simsive holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Manhattan School of Music where she studied with Solomon Mikowsky. Her past teachers include Boris Berman, Jacques Rouvier, Mila Baslawskaja, and Maka Aladashvili. Simsive is represented by Interartists Amsterdam Management.
About the Concert
The performance begins at 2:00 pm. Join us an hour earlier for a pre-concert discussion about the music on the program. After the performance, you’ll have an opportunity to meet the artist(s) and learn about their backgrounds, interests, and career plans.
The address of the venue is 103 North Road, Wakefield, Rhode Island 02879. Driving time from Providence, Newport, Westerly, and southeastern Connecticut is under an hour, and Amtrak’s Kingston Station is only five miles away.
The suggested contribution for this concert is $50 per person, collected at the door. We accept cash, personal checks, and cards. Checks should be payable to “Core Memory Music”. All contributions go directly to our performing artists. To make your contribution in advance, click here.
Children under 18 are welcome to join us free of charge.
If you’d like to attend this concert, send us an email with the full name of each person in your party. If seating is still available, we’ll confirm your reservation. If you can’t attend the concert, we invite you to listen to the audio livestream (no reservation required).