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Japanese chamber trio make their Maui debut

The Aoi Trio featuring Kyoko Ogawa on violin, Kosuke Akimoto on piano and cellist Yu Ito will perform Feb. 6 at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center. Courtesy photo

The award-winning Aoi Trio of violinist Kyoko Ogawa, cellist Yu Ito and pianist Kosuke Akimoto are excited about making their Hawaii debut, which includes a concert on Feb. 6 at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center’s Castle Theater.

“It will be our first time visiting, so we are very much looking forward to experiencing life there,” said Yu Ito and Kosuke Akimoto in an email through an interpreter. “Traveling to Oahu and the other islands will be an incredibly valuable experience.”

Founded in 2016 by graduates of the Tokyo University of the Arts, all three also studied at the prestigious Chamber Music Academy of Suntory Hall. Two years later they won first prize at the ARD international music competition in Munich, Germany.

The Trio takes its name from the initials of their family names and also from the Japanese flower aoi — hollyhock in English — which means aspiration or fruitfulness.

“When we perform in a concert as AOI Trio, we can play more freely because we have rehearsed a lot and spent a lot of time together and we trust each other,” they said. “Chamber music allows us to show deeper expressions that is not possible in solo performance by combining the sounds of multiple instruments. The process of creating good music by sharing ideas among the members is also very fun.”

For their Maui concert they will play the Beethoven “Piano Trio No. 5 in D major op. 70-1,” known as the “Ghost,” Toshio Hosokawa’s “Trio” and the Dvořák “Piano Trio No. 4 in E minor op. 90,” known as the “Dumky.”

“Beethoven’s ‘Ghost’ is one of his greatest works,” they said. “The first movement and finale are very bright and lively, while the second movement is dark and strange music that evokes the image of a ghost. Hosokawa’s ‘Trio’ expresses the world of shamans who connect this world and the afterlife. The violin is a female shaman, the cello a male shaman, and the piano depicts the universe and nature. The final piece, Dvorak’s ‘Dumky,’ is one of the most popular pieces in the piano trio repertoire and is very passionate and energetic.”

Japan’s pre-eminent living composer, Hosokawa creates a distinctive musical language from the relationship between Western avant-garde art and traditional Japanese culture. His music is connected to the aesthetic and spiritual roots of the Japanese arts such as calligraphy, as well as to those of Japanese court music. The Aoi Trio has commissioned a new work by Hosokawa, to be premiered in 2027.

“I think one of the features of his music is silence,” they explained. “Silence is an aesthetic of Japanese culture. We have performed this piece several times in Europe and the audiences loved it. We are very excited to share this music with Maui audiences.”

Besides performing familiar trios by Beethoven, Shostakovich’s, Haydn, Schubert, Brahms and Schumann, the Aoi Trio enjoys playing music by contemporary composers like Ives, Henze, Srnka and Hosokawa.

“One of our life works is to explore and expand the repertoire for piano trio,” they said. “Therefore, we aim not only to present the works of great composers that are frequently performed, but also to introduce the beauty of works by contemporary composers to our audience.”

The musicians have released the studio albums “Haydn No. 27 and Schubert No. 2” and “Beethoven No. 1 and Mendelssohn No. 2.” Their live recordings include Schumann’s “Piano Trio No. 2 in F major, op. 80” and Chopin’s “Piano Trio in G minor op. 8,” and the Tokyo concert of Schumann’s “Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, op. 63” and “Piano Trio No. 1 in B-flat major, D898.”

“Aoi Trio is active year-round,” they said. “We would be happy if you could feel the unity of our sound and the detailed expressions that only we can create. We will do our best to share the music of Aoi Trio with the audience in Hawaii.”

The Aoi Trio perform in the MACC’s Castle Theater at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 6. Tickets are $36 and $46 plus applicable fees, available online only at MauiArts.org. MACC members receive a 10% discount. Tickets for kids 12 and under are half price.

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