Concert Themes & Ideas
Poulenc Trio’s repertoire encompasses 300 years of great music from diverse voices.
The following program ideas are meant to give a sense of the breadth and depth of our repertoire—we don’t tour every season with all the works listed here, but we encourage you to please inquire about possible combinations!
Breathing Light — with Hanzhi Wang, accordion
Vivaldi - Concerto Grosso, Op. 3 No. 11
Poulenc - Selected Songs
Viet Cuong - Explain Yourself!
Hanzhi Wang - (New Work)
Selections for Solo Accordion
Juri Seo - Breathing Light (Premiere!)
Rossini - Fantasie on L’Italienne en Algieri
Poulenc Trio Favorites
Handel - Trio Sonata in F
Rossini - Fantasie on L’Italienne en Algieri
Glinka - Trio Pathétique
Shostakovich - Romance and A Spin Around Moscow
Poulenc - Trio
Mikhail Glinka
The Russian French Connection
Glinka - Trio Pathétique
Shostakovich - Romance and Moscow, Cheryomushki
Françaix - Trio
Poulenc - Trio
Viet Cuong
Trains of Thought
Viet Cuong - Trains of Thought
Andre Previn - Trio
Octavio Vazquez - Tryptich
Shostakovich - Romance & A Spin Around Moscow
If it Ain’t Neoclassical, it might be Baroque
Handel - Trio Sonata in F
CPE Bach - Six Sonatas for Trio
Vivaldi - Oboe Sonata
Telemann - Bassoon Sonata in F minor
Schnittke - Suite in the Old Style
Stravinsky - Pulcinella
Viet Cuong
Explain Yourself!
A premiere work, commissioned for the Poulenc Trio with support from the prestigious Barlow Endowment. Viet Cuong’s boisterous composition pays homage the the joyous, witty nature of many of Poulenc’s works.
Poulenc - Trio
Cuong - Explain Yourself
Glinka - Trio Pathétique
Rossini - Fantaasy on Semiramide
Beethoven, Glinka, Benjamin
Featuring two great Beethoven trios paired with works by artists inspired by the master.
Beethoven - Trio, op. 38
Benjamin - Three Etudes
Beethoven - Trio, op. 11
Glinka - Trio Pathétique
James Lee III
Cultural Roots: Yiddish Lexicon and other Musical Traditions
An exploration of cultural heritage through great music, anchored by Yiddish Lexicon, a stunning work commissioned by the Poulenc Trio, which celebrates humor, heart and struggle through the lens of language. Presented optionally with a projection of original artworks, commissioned by the Poulenc Trio of artists from MICA, the Maryland Institute College of Art.
Jakoulov - Yiddish Lexicon
William Grant Still - Vignettes
James Lee III - Principal Brothers, No. 4
Enrique Carlos Gonzales Medina - Suite Latina
Piazzolla - Estaciones Porteñas
Stravinsky’s Genius
When Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring premiered in 1913 at the Theatre Champs-Elysees in Paris, several other prominent composers were in attendance. Saint-Saëns stormed out; Poulenc was enraptured. Classical music was forever changed. In this program, the Trio explores the impact of Stravinsky’s genius on the music of his contemporaries and his times.
Stravinsky - Chamber Suite No. 1
Saint-Saëns - Sonata for bassoon and piano
Poulenc - Trio
Stravinsky - Chamber Suite No. 2
Saint-Saëns - Sonata for oboe and bassoon
Stravinsky - Pulcinella
More about Stravinsky Suite Nos. 1 & 2
Stravinsky originally composed this set of works and as piano miniatures, and later expanded them into a popular set of movements for small orchestra. This version for piano and winds highlights an intimate aspect of the composer’s boundless creativity and his iconic musical imagination.
Tango and Blues: Chau Paris
Astor Piazzolla: Chau Paris
Paquito D’Rivera: Souvenir de la Havane
Duke Ellington: The Mooche/Black & Tan Fantasy
Duke Ellington: In a Sentimental Mood
Just after the Poulenc Trio’s founding, the group worked with one of Piazzolla’s own favorite arrangers, Osvaldo Requena, to adapt Chau Paris, a charming and dramatic work for winds. Optionally paired with selections from Piazzolla (Oblivion, Otoño Porteño), Paquito D’Rivera (Afro, Danzón, Preludio y Merengue), and Duke Ellington (In a Sentimental Mood, Black and Tan Fantasy)
Words, Heritage, and Identity
Yiddish Lexicon by Jakov Jakoulov
available with mixed media projection
The Poulenc Trio commissioned this stunning 10-movement work from the composer to celebrate the humor, heart and struggle of the Jewish experience. Each movement captures, in music, a word or saying from Yiddish, the historical language of the Ashkenazi people, dating back to the 9th century in Europe. A masterpiece of onomatopoetic musicality, Yiddish Lexicon simply shouldn’t be missed. Presented optionally with a projection of priceless original artworks, commissioned by the Poulenc Trio of artists from MICA, the Maryland Institute College of Art.