Gloriosa Trio - Yoonie Han, piano, Jennifer Carsillo, violin and Kevin Bate, cello

Program Note by composer Theodore Wiprud 

I composed Vinea Gloriosa as a brief, brilliant signature work for the Gloriosa Trio. I was struck by the extravagant beauty of the flower from which the trio takes its name, an improbable lily that grows in wild profusion in some tropical climes. I set the opulence of its flower in counterpoint with the tenacity of its tendrils – snaking vines adorned with blossoms. The title – Latin for “glorious vine” – invokes not the actual name of the plant, but my two-fold inspiration.

“Driven by lush violin-and-cello unison melodies” and a timbre that is “fuller than the brain imagines three musicians can sound” (Jon Sobel, BlogCritics), the Gloriosa Piano Trio burst onto the music scene in January 2014 as brightly as the flame lily for which the group is named. The trio’s carefully-crafted thematic programs delivered in exuberant performance have appealed to diverse audiences around the country, with critics hailing the Gloriosa Piano Trio’s debut concerts in Palm Beach and New York City as “…a special, aesthetic experience not to be ignored” (Allen Rosenberg, the Daily News). All experienced chamber musicians with a passion for collaboration, pianist Yoonie Han, violinist Eric Silberger, and cellist Kevin Bate looked to the beauty of nature to inspire them with a name for their group, finding in the Gloriosa lily a fitting symbol to describe their fervent desire to share the music they love. The trio has performed and taught at the New Jersey City University, University of North Florida Jacksonville, Emory University, Georgia SouthWestern State University, and the Boulder Chamber Orchestra Music Series. Gloriosa Piano Trio enthusiastically work with living composers, and has commissioned new pieces from composer Theodore Wiprud and Karen LeFrak.