The Merz Trio appeared by special arrangement with Concert Artists Guild (CAG). Through mentorship and performance opportunities, CAG helps exceptional young artists establish their careers and make a positive impact on the world through music.

• Program
• About the Ensemble

Program

Full Program (PDF)

About the Ensemble

Hailed as “entrancing” (BBC Music Magazine) and “artists in the deepest sense of the word” (CutCommon), Merz Trio, winners of the Naumburg, Concert Artists Guild, Fischoff and Chesapeake Competitions, and recipients of a Salon di Virtuosi Career Grant, have been lauded for their “stunning virtuosity … fresh and surprising interpretations” (Reading Eagle), and “perfection of intonation and ensemble” (Hudson Review).

Merz Trio are passionately committed to reshaping the narrative of classical music through vibrantly dynamic programming and wide-ranging interdisciplinary collaboration. Their narrative programming style juxtaposes classical standards, new music, and their own arrangements of familiar and forgotten works, fluidly interwoven and guided with speaking from the Trio’s members. Their interdisciplinary collaborations include ongoing projects with directors Emma Jaster and Jon Levin, dancer Caroline Copeland, and Sandglass Puppet Theater.

The Trio are equally known for their more immersive integrations of music and text in performance, ranging from their recital-theater piece built around Shakespeare’s Macbeth (“Those Secret Eyes”), to their debut album interweaving Ravel’s Trio with short pieces, poems, and diaries of the era (“Ink,” August, 2021), to be presented in a live concert format (“Ink Spills”) for the 2021-2022 season. Finally, in their prolific arranging, the Trio are committed to uplifting overlooked voices from history, ranging from Hildegard von Bingen to Lili and Nadia Boulanger, from Joséphine Baker to Irish folk melodies.

This coming season, Merz Trio look forward to debuts at Tippet Rise, Duke Performances, CM Dallas, Coleman Chamber Music Association, the New Orleans Friends of Music and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Recent debuts have taken them to Carnegie Hall, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Chamber Music Houston, Philadelphia CMS, and the Schubert Club (St. Paul, MN), among other notable performances.

Merz Trio have been encouraged in their explorations by numerous institutional homes around the world: New England Conservatory, Yellow Barn, Snape Maltings, Avaloch Farm Institute, the Naumburg Foundation, the Lake Champlain, Olympic, and Chesapeake Music Festivals, and the Fischoff Competition, as well as many other venues and hosts around the US, Australia, the Netherlands and the UK.

Merz Trio operate as a nonprofit organization under Project Merz, Inc. and are currently represented by Concert Artists Guild.