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The Merling Trio
Renata Artman Knific, Violin
Bruce Uchimura, Cello
Susan Wiersma Uchimura, Piano
Primary contact: Susan Wiersma Uchimura
Merling Trio Homepage
Music Samples (MP3 player required)
The Merling Trio was founded in 1988, and quickly established itself
as a premiere ensemble. A truly international trio, it brings together musicians from Polish,
Japanese, and Dutch backgrounds. The Merling Trio has been hailed as a brilliantly distinguished
group endowed with remarkable gifts of communication, magnificent precision, and an impeccable
blend of sound. The trio made its New York debut in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in 1993,
and was named a finalist for the Naumburg Foundation Chamber Music Award in 1994. They have coached
with Bonnie Hampton, Ruth Laredo, Martin Canin, Joyce Robbins, Joel Krosnik, and Anne Epperson.
The Merling Trio has given numerous recitals throughout Canada
and the United States. Members of the Trio have performed with orchestras such as the English
Chamber Orchestra, the Honolulu Symphony, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, the Concerto Soloists
of Philadelphia, and the South Carolina Philharmonic, under the baton of such notable conductors as
Daniel Borenboim, Simon Rattle, and Cristoph Eschenbach. Recent trio performances include concerts
for the Chamber Music Society of Charleston (WV), the Texas Friends of Chamber Music Series, the
Jewel Box Series at Northeastern Illinois University, and the Columbus (OH) Museum of Art.
Several contemporary composers have written works for the Merling Trio,
and in 1993, they commissioned and premiered C. Curtis-Smith's "Second Piano Trio." In February 1998,
the trio returned to Carnegie Hall for a sold-out performance of a new work by New York composer Terry
Winter-Owens, commissioned by the Merling Trio with a Commissioning Grand from the American Composers
Forum. In 2003, the trio premiered Frank Proto's "Quartet for Piano and Strings" at St. John's Smith
Square in London, England. Performances by the Merling Trio have been broadcast widely on television
and radio, including WNYC, WFMT 98.7 in Chicago, and Peachstate Public Radio. Their first CD, entitled
"The Merling Trio performs works of C. Curtis-Smith," was released in 1995 by Albany Records, in
collaboration with conductor Dennis Russell Davies. About the CD, Fanfare wrote, "The composer could
not ask for better interpreters." The trio's next CD, "Piano Trio Classics," including works by Haydn,
Mozart, Brahms, Schumann, and Liszt, was released by Pamplin Records in 2001. Centaur Records will issue
the trio's new recording of works by Piazzolla and Proto in 2006.
In residence at the School of Music at Western Michigan University,
members of the trio are also faculty members at the prestigious ENCORE School for Strings, and at the
Lancut Festival in Poland. Festival appearances include the Banff Centre for the Arts, the Pensacola
Summer Music Festival, the Skaneateles Festival, the Saugatuck Chamber Music Festival, and the Fontana
Festival of Art and Music. Recent educational activities include performances and master classes for
the California Music Teachers Association, the Music Teachers National Association, the Hawaii
International Arts and Humanities Conference, and the American String Teachers Association National
Conference.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer said, "The players shaped a grand interpretation,
fluent in rhythm and rich in romantic feeling." The Grand Rapids Press has said, "The trio...delivered a
standard of playing that is on par with some of the best known violin-cello-piano teams, captivating the
audience through the immediacy and extraordinary sensitivity of its playing." The London Musical Opinion
declared that the Merling Trio "made a powerful impression, with unabashed romanticism and finesse."
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