Trio Con Brio Copenhagen

"Founded at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna in 1999, the trio is now based in Copenhagen and tours worldwide.
All three members of the trio knew right from the start that they would find their musical identities as a piano trio: “There is something about the configuration of a trio, about that triangle, that somehow focuses and amplifies the special understanding that we have as people and as musicians. It is both a freedom and a fulfillment.”
The Trio was born out of an idea of the coming together of ‘musical pairs’ – of the two Korean-born sisters, Soo-Kyung Hong (cello) and Soo-Jin Hong (violin), and the husband of Soo-Kyung, the Danish pianist Jens Elvekjær. They quickly gained a reputation for their fresh and contemporary approach to the core repertoire, as put in words by Danish Broadcasting Corporation’s Esben Tange: “Works by Beethoven, Schubert and Brahms are transformed in their hands into the alive-and-kicking music of today”. Winning most of the major competitions for piano trio – including the ARD (Munich), Vittorio Gui (Florence), Trondheim Competition (Norway), Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson (USA), Allianz Prize (Germany) and the prestigious P2 Artist’s Prize (Denmark) "– they are regularly heard at the world’s leading concert series and venues, like Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Wigmore Hall, Berlin Philharmonie – Pierre Boulez-Saal, Concertgebouw, Elbphilharmonie, Seoul Arts Centre, Louvre in Paris, and of course their beloved “home venues”: DR Koncerthuset and the Tivoli Concert Hall in Copenhagen."

"TRIO CON BRIO COPENHAGEN plays a central role in Scandinavia’s vi- brant contemporary music scene. Leading composers have dedicated works to the Trio, like Per Nørgård who in 2012 dedicated a piece celebrating his 80th birthday in 2012 to the Trio. They also in 2012 premiered Sven-David Sandström’s Triple Concerto, a work marking the composers 70th birthday. In January 2016 they presented the world premiere of Bent Sørensen’s Triple Concerto with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, a work that won the prestigious Grawemeyer Award.
The ensemble’s recordings have received tremendous critical acclaim. The latest album of Shostakovich and Arensky trios (Orchid Classics) was a Gramophone “Editor’s Choice” and also singled out by BBC Music Magazine as a “Chamber Choice” of the month. The disc also won the German Record Critics’ Award (Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik) among other winning artists including the Berlin Philharmonic, Frank Peter Zimmermann, and Qua- tuor Ebène. An album featuring the complete Beethoven piano trios (Orchid Classics) received broad, enthusiastic praise from critics and fans alike, with the BBC Music Magazine naming it “a triumph.” The Trio has also recorded works composed for them by leading Scandinavian composers, including Per Nørgård, Bent Sørensen and Sven-David Sandström."