Ahn Trio Concert to Bend Classic Music Genre

03/26/2014 

Even before the inseparable South Korean Ahn Trio sisters graduated from the Julliard School, sister Angella recalled getting approached by numerous booking agencies and record labels to launch their music careers.

“The more my sisters and I performed, the more we appreciated everything about performing together,” Angella Ahn said.

The Ahn Trio, from Seoul, will bring its redefined art of classical music on cello, piano and violin to SUNY Cortland’s Corey Union Function Room on Sunday, March 30.

Presented by the Campus Artist and Lecture Series, the group will perform at 3 p.m. Tickets are $5 for general admission, $3 for SUNY Cortland students,and free for children age 10 and younger. Tickets can be purchased in Corey Union, Room 406, or beginning one hour prior to the performance at the venue. All performances are general admission seating.

The event continues the Women's History Month series of events during March and April. For information on other events, visit the Women's Initiatives website.

Cellist Maria, pianist Lucia and violinist Angella have transformed the art of chamber music and have made their trio into a household name through the six recorded albums, along with 10-plus years of touring experience. They will return to the campus after their last appearance in 2004.

Their latest album, titled “Lullaby for My Favorite Insomniac,” stayed on the Billboard charts in the Classical album category for 26 weeks, reaching as high as No. 8.

The Ahn Trio have performed in world-renowned venues, such as Vienna’s Musikverein, New York’s Lincoln Center, Leipzig’s Gewandhaus, Beijing’s Concert Hall, Istanbul’s Aya Irini in Topkapi Palace and the World Music Festival in the Czech Republic.

The group also has worked very closely with visionary composers, such as Michael Nyman, Maurice Jarre, Pat Metheny, Paul Schoenfield, Mark O’Connor, Nikolai Kapustin and Paul Chihara. Their style pays homage to Kenji Bunch, an American violinist and composer, for a large part of their genre-crossover music style.

The Ahn Trio has fused its work with that of dancers, pop singers, chefs, writers, DJs, painters, installation artists, photographers, lighting designers, ecologists and even kite makers.

“Living in New York City, we are inspired by so many different kinds of people,” Angella said.

The sisters moved there from Seoul in 1981, when they attended The Julliard School to start their training.

Members of the Ahn Trio, from the left, Angella, Lucia and Maria, pose with the instruments that have earned them recording studio and performance hall fame.

“We weren’t very serious about our instruments until we saw students at Julliard taking music so seriously, so that was the first true inspiration for my sisters and me to say, ‘Wow, let’s work hard,’” Angella said.

Angella is two years apart in age from twin sisters Maria and Lucia, so they were together the majority of years they attended Juilliard.

“A big part of the formation of our group had to do with being at the same college and being so close in ages,” Angella said.

In 2011, the group performed in front of more than 200 politicians and other prominent figures at the White House for a South Korean state dinner. Attendees included President Barack Obama and the First Lady Michelle Obama; the then-South Korean President Lee Myung-bak; and the secretary-general of the United Nations, Ban Ki-Moon.

“It was a very intimate setting and my sisters and I were among people who we respected so much,” Angella said. “It was definitely the highlight of our careers.”

The Ahn Trio found fame very early on, when in 1987 the group appeared in Time magazine’s cover story, “Asian American Whiz Kids.” Since then, they have been featured in acclaimed fashion pages such as, Vogue and GQ, photographed by notable photographers Arthur Elgort, Ellen von Unwerth, and Walter Chin, and featured in ad campaigns for Anne Klein, Gap and Bodyshop. In 2003, they were named three of People Magazine’s “50 Most Beautiful People.”

The sisters are thankful for their die-hard fans.

“We are so excited to perform at SUNY Cortland again,” Angella said. “There is nothing like being on stage and sharing our music with the audience. The connection you feel, I don’t even know how to describe it. It is so magical.”

For more about the Ahn Trio, visit their website at www.ahntrio.com or like them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ahntrio.

For ticket information or questions regarding CALS events, please contact the Campus Activities and Corey Union Office at 607-753-5574.