Chameleon Up Close: Piano Trios by Schubert, Tower & Clara Schumann

At its best, chamber music is a conversation between friends, and nowhere is that more apparent than within the piano trio genre, grand canvases filled with intimate expression. Join violinist Robyn Bollinger, cellist Rafael Popper-Keizer, and pianist Vivian Choi for a Chameleon Up Close recital exploring these themes. Clara Schumann’s under-appreciated gem – her g minor Piano Trio – embodies the drama of the Romantic era with transparency and grace. Joan Tower’s Big Sky, is inspired by the expansive beauty of the Andes, and Schubert, at the end of his life, stretches to the horizon with a monument of the repertoire, the Piano Trio No. 2 in E-flat Major, Op. 100, D. 929.

The Boston Globe noted that Ms. Bollinger’s “performance seemed to catch fire… at the service of bold musical expression.” The New York Times praised Mr. Popper-Keizer as “imaginative and eloquent,” and The Boston Musical Intelligencer hailed “Choi gave it a sparkling performance, full of poise and charm.”