Moving people together....Melbourne Public Transport ... Most Paid Trio ... whatever you want M.P.T to stand for, I'm talking about The Melbourne Piano Trio. It's refreshing to see a new crop of young energetic musicians gracing our classical music scene with serious determination, high-spirits and a true passion for chamber music.
The Trio of 26 year olds consist of cool-calm-collected Hoang Pham (piano), tiny-pocket-rocket Ji-Won Kim (violin) and friendly giant Chris Howlett (cello). Each have established themselves in their solo careers having individually won national and international prizes, bursaries, scholarships, performed around the world, studied under great masters, i won't even bother with the details. It's a given that at this calibre, musicians need to have been there, done that. But what happens when they come together? It's kind of like Captain Planet ... 'when our powers combine ...', they become a force to be reckoned with!
Asking how they came about to form as a trio, Chris said 'Hoang and I have been playing since Wesley College (high-school) days' ... Ji-Won chimes in 'They auditioned me for two days and Hoang was so serious... he said 'no' at first ... jokingly' and bursts out in giggles. My first encounter of Chris was the day before the Sydney Launch show and Chris was cooking for all of us a delicious pasta dish. Now how does a musician have time to cook like this, shouldn't they be locked up in a practice room from dawn to dusk and being anti-social? "This is from the days of working in the kitchen at Pumphouse to pay off my cello" said Chris (Chris plays a Thomas Kennedy Cello!).
In a time where for anything in this musical world to succeed, you need your point of difference. I posed the very question to MPT. "I think what sets us apart is that when we rehearse, there is no ego" says Chris. Hoang believes it is "to have that interaction, to have the guts to speak to your audience and engage them... it's a scary thing for many musicians. It's about having that faith but also the willingness to have the confidence and an element of danger to voice your thoughts on the pieces that you are playing".
The dynamic of a trio is always very important and from listening to them speak, they definitely balance each other out. "Honestly though, do you all get along?", I asked. "We slept together, the three of us for the first time last week at ANAM (Australian National Academy of Music)" giggles Ji-Won. The boys looked at each other in horror. "No, i think what Ji-Won means is that we all were in Melbourne together for our debut performance at Elizabeth Murdoch Hall" clarifies Chris. "Ji-Won is seriously the icing on the cake in our trio" says Hoang. And he is absolutely correct when it came to watching their debut performance in Sydney at the Independent Theatre, North Sydney.
Melbourne Piano Trio perform at the Independent Theatre, North Sydney
Their program of Beethoven's 'Ghost' Trio, Paul Dean's 'Fragmented Moments' (world premiere performance) and Dvorak's Piano Trio in F minor, Op 65 was a very balanced choice of repertoire. The third movement of the 'Ghost' was most exciting, joyful and the balance between the instruments was sublime. What made the concert was Dean's 'Fragmented Moments'. A work which for Sydney-siders was a first, we were transfixed by the 5 movement work weaving through the mind of a person who suffers Alzeimer's as well as the effects it has on the people around them. The first movement set the eerie mood, transporting the audience into the brain of the person with Alzeimer's. The second was probably my favourite because it reminded me of Pringles - once you pop, you can't stop. It had this energy and drive which all three musicians captured from beginning to end. With markings on the score such as 'Hoang, go nuts', how could it not be gripping? The work is so wonderfully constructed, complete with the 5 movements that it ended with rumbles from people's feet, cheers and a roaring ovation. Hats off to Dean! An absolute gem of a contemporary work!
Each musician spoke to us before the work, giving the audience a sense of their personality and their perspective on the work they were about to perform (no, they aren't anti-socials and yes, they DO have personalities). The third movement of the Dvorak stole our hearts with the beautiful sounds from Ji-Won's Storioni melting us in our seats. Hoang brought out a wonderful tone on the Stuarts & Sons with temperament that worked perfectly for the accompaniment and balance with the violin and Chris' Thomas Kennedy cello.
I can't read tea-leaves, nor can I forecast the future but I know for a fact that The Melbourne Piano Trio is a Trio that will not only be fine representatives for Australia but bring their unique dynamic to create joy to many concert halls and performance spaces around the world. Not only are they fine musicians but they have wit, humour and character. Who knows, they may end up one day being the Most Paid Trio :)
Left to right: with the Melbourne Piano Trio boys! Chris Howlett (Cellist), me :) and Hoang Pham (pianist)
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