The Zodiac Trio

The Boston New Music Project presents the Zodiac Trio: Vanessa Mollard, violin; Kliment Krylovsky, clarinet; and Riko Higuma, piano. The program includes world premieres by Andrew List and Andy Vores, as well as music by Philip Glass and Ned Rorem. During the concert, the trio will show an original piece made by a French filmmaker.

The acclaimed French/American Zodiac Trio is considered by many to be the leading clarinet-violin-piano ensemble performing today, with a concert schedule that spans three continents. Protégé of the renowned Ysaye Quartet at the Paris Conservatory, the Zodiac Trio has performed at such leading venues as the famed Festival Radio France Montpellier in France and the Oriental Performing Arts Center in Shanghai, has been broadcast by France 3 Televsion, and has recorded multiple times for Radio France in Paris. In June of 2010, the Zodiac Trio performed a six-city tour of China, where the young ensemble was welcomed on the country's leading stages and was invited to present master classes at the Ningboa University and the China Conservatory in Beijing.

Hailed by the London-based international MUSO magazine as one of the most exciting contemporary chamber groups on the concert circuit, the Zodiac Trio has been praised by critics for their "impeccable technique" (Ouest), and "remarkable musicality of rare intensity" (La Tribune). The young ensemble has graced many of the foremost stages throughout the U.S., Europe, Japan, and China.

Representing the three different nations of Japan, Russia, and France, the Zodiac Trio originally formed in New York in 2006 and has since appeared at such venues as Walter Bruno Auditorium at Lincoln Center in New York, Oriental Performing Arts Center in Shanghai, the Corum in Montpellier, the Acropolis in Nice, Izumi Hall in Osaka, and Radio France in Paris, among many others. Notably, the trio collaborates with Yovan Markovich, cellist of the famed Ysaÿe Quartet in extended programs.

The 2010-11 season features the Zodiac Trio on the historic Schneider Series in New York; St. Vincent College Concert Series in Pennsylvania; Virtuosi Series in Winnipeg, Manitoba; the Four Seasons Performing Arts Centre in Toronto; Berklee College of Music in Boston; and Salle Cortot in Paris, among others. The season will also feature the ensemble in a special new music project at the Berklee and Boston Conservatory. Notably, the Zodiac Trio will give their debut at the famed Colmar Festival in France in 2011.

Shortly after its inception at the Mahattan School of Music, the Zodiac Trio debuted with a concert at the Kaufman Center prompting Edith Eisler of the New York Concert Review to describe the young ensemble as "excellent, talented, and committed." Since then, the Zodiac Trio has been awarded prizes at a number of national and international competitions, including the Yellow Springs Chamber Music Competition, FNAPEC Ensemble Competition (Paris), International Chamber Music Competition of Duchi D'Aqcuaviva (Italy), Val Tidone International Music Competition (Italy), the Cziffra Foundation (France), Joyce Dutka Foundation for the Arts (New York), International Peninsula Young Artist Festival in California, and the ProMusica Ensemble Competition (France), among others.

The ensemble also received a Recording Grant and Commission Grant from Co-Op Press, are laureates of the 6th International Osaka Chamber Music Competition in Japan, and were recently awarded the Encore Grant from the American Composers Forum to support their collaboration with composer Andrew List.

The Zodiac Trio has been broadcast on National Public Radio in the U.S., CBC Radio in Canada, Radio France in Paris. Its debut commercial recording continues to receive airplay throughout the United States. Strong advocates of new music, the trio has commissioned new works in order to expand the clarinet-violin-piano trio repertoire, and strive to serve as a platform of exposure for up-and-coming composers. Their debut commercial recording included two works written for the ensemble. Currently, the Zodiac Trio is involved in a number of collaborative projects with emerging composers both in the United States and France.