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!
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.
Featuring two great Beethoven trios paired with works by artists inspired by the master.
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.
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 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.
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)
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.