May 8, 2025
Photo The Gryphon Trio have been praised for their exquisite playing. They will perform as the Maui Classical Musical festival returns May 16-25. Courtesy photo The Gryphon Trio have been widely praised and known as a cornerstone of Canada’s classical chamber music community. Photo courtesy Bo Huang
The Maui Classical Music Festival is returning to Maui with concerts planned in Makawao, Makena, Hana and Wailuku between May 16-25.
The 2025 festival is dedicated to the memory of Yizhak Schotten, who founded the Maui Classical Music Festival with his wife Katherine Collier. Schotten passed away in September last year, and Collier is carrying on with new co-director Amir Eldan, cello professor at the University of Michigan.
Visiting musicians include the Gryphon Trio (Annalee Patipatanakoon, violin; Roman Borys, cello; and Jamie Parker, piano), Matthew Cohen, viola; Robert deMaine, cello; Stefan Jackiw, violin; Yoonah Kim, clarinet; Zhenni Li-Cohen, piano, and Ayanao Ninomiya, violin.
Acclaimed as one of the world’s leading trios, the Gryphon is known as a cornerstone of Canada’s classical chamber music community.
“This is a piano trio that plays with strength and unanimity … big, bold, almost orchestral performances,” noted The Los Angeles Times.
“As playing per se, this is exquisite. The ensemble and tonal control can be almost breathtaking,” praised BBC Music Magazine.
The Gryphon’s prolific discography, spanning 22 albums, is a rich testament to their commitment to an eclectic piano trio repertoire. Among their albums, “Broken Hearts & Madmen” with vocalist Patricia O’Callaghan, featured songs by Leonard Cohen, Nick Drake, Elvis Costello, Los Lobos and Laurie Anderson.
“The Gryphon Trio has finely honed their talent for skillfully adapting classical technique to the contemporary audience and this shines through beautifully in this recording,” praised theWholeNote.
Formed in 1993, violinist Patipatanakoon recalled in an Ottawa artsfile interview, “Roman (Borys) and I very much wanted to pursue chamber music and we started searching for a new pianist. We knew Jamie and it was timely that a CBC documentary on Jamie was on TV one Sunday. It started in March 1993 and hasn’t stopped since.”
Their accolades include 11 Juno nominations and three wins for Classical Album of the Year in 2019, 2011 and 2004. In 2013, the Canada Council for the Arts recognized their exceptional contributions with the prestigious Walter Carsen Prize for Excellence in the Performing Arts.
Dedicated to expanding the canon, they have commissioned over 85 new works, pushing artistic boundaries and welcoming fresh voices into the chamber music landscape.
At the end of May the Trio will collaborate with mezzo-soprano Marion Newman Nege’ga, narrator Aaron Wells, and a diverse group of Indigenous and non-Indigenous composers, poets, researchers, and filmmakers from around the globe to present the multimedia concert, “Echo: Memories of the World,” at the University of British Columbia.
The festival opens on May 16 at the Makawao Union Church with a “Baroque to Brilliance” concert featuring Luigi Boccherini – “String Quartet in A, Op. 26 No.4,”
Bohuslav Martinu – “Three Madrigals for Violin and Viola,” Ernest Chausson – “Andante and Allegro for Clarinet and Piano,” and Felix Mendelssohn – “Piano Trio No.2 in C minor, Op. 66.”
On May 19 at the Keawala’i Congregational Church in Makena, the “Haunting to Heroic” concert features David Popper – “Requiem for Three Cellos and Piano, Op.66,”
Valentin Silvestrov – “Fugitive Visions of Mozart for Piano Trios,” Sergei Rachmaninoff – “Allegro mosso from Sonata for Cello and Piano in G Minor, Op.19, and Samuel Coleridge Taylor – “Clarinet Quintet in F Sharp Minor, Op. 10.”
The Hana Community Concert at the Wananalua Congregational Church on May 21 includes W. A. Mozart – “Adagio and Rondeau: Allegro from Duo for Violin and Viola in G, K. 423,” Robert deMaine – “Caprice for Solo Cello,” Luigi Boccherini – “String Quartet in A, Op. 26 No. 4,” and Johannes Brahms – “Clarinet Quintet in B Minor, Op. 115.”
Moving to Wailuku and the Historic Iao Theater, a “Love Triangle, Beethoven and Schumann” concert on May 23 features L.V. Beethoven – “Sonata for Violin and Piano in C Minor, Op. 30 No. 2,” Dinuk Wijeratne – “Love Triangle for Piano Trio,” and Robert Schumann – “Piano Quintet in E Flat, Op. 44.”
The “Festival Finale” on May 25 in Wailuku includes Rebecca Clarke – “Piano Trio (1921),” Christos Hatzis – “Old photographs,” and Johannes Brahms – “Clarinet Quintet in B Minor, Op. 115.”
The Maui Classical Music Festival runs May 16-25. Concerts start at 7 p.m. May 16, May 19 and May 23; 6 p.m. May 21 and 4 p.m. May 25. Tickets are $30 and $10 for students at mauiclassicalmusicfestival.org.
A job fair for a new restaurant in Wailea takes place from 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday, May 8, at the Pilina Event …
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