Sample Programs

Breathing Light — Poulenc Trio with Hanzhi Wang, accordion (New for 24-25!)

• 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

The Russian French Connection

• Glinka - Trio Pathétique

• Shostakovich - Romance and Moscow, Cheryomushki

• Françaix - Trio

• Poulenc - Trio

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

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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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.

10. 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 this 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)

11. 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.