They dress in colorful, hip clothing and were voted three of People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People. They have performed The Doors' Riders on the Storm ' arranged for cello, piano and violin.
The Ahn Trio is not an average chamber music trio.
In our music
there is a blending and fusing of all types of music violinist Angella Ahn said. Growing up in two different cultures has influenced us in that way.
She and her two sisters, pianist Lucia and cellist Maria, all in their early twenties, grew up in Seoul, Korea, but spent most of their lives in New York City.
Their mother is a writer and their father is in business, so there was no pressure to get into music, Angella said. They began playing their instruments strictly as a hobby. This made them better musicians because they don't like being told what to do she said.
When the Ahns moved to America in 1981, they were introduced to The Juilliard School's pre-college program. They auditioned and were accepted into the music division. It wasn't until faculty at Juilliard asked them to play at a lot of school functions that they thought about playing as a trio. Later the sisters went on to college at Juilliard as well.
I don't think any kid dreams of playing (instrumentally) with their sisters
Angella said.
From there they fell in love with the intimacy of chamber music
she said, and the sisters began playing together professionally.
According to The Ahn Trio's Web site, www.ahntrio.com, the sisters met fellow student Kenji Bunch at Juilliard. He composes music, which mixes genres from rock to bluegrass with classical music, exclusively for the trio.
One of our huge goals is to break the misconception that classical music is stuffy
Angella said. Classical music is great; it's beautiful.At their show tonight at Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium, the artists hope to simply bring people out to enjoy live music. The effect of live music is not as appreciated, Angella said, and The Ahn Trio hopes to get people to see more live shows.
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Susan Tebben
