EIU Media Relations

Ahn Trio Returning to Doudna to Premiere Commissioned Work

The world-renowned Ahn Trio will make a return visit to Eastern Illinois University's Doudna Fine Arts Center to premiere a work that was commissioned for them in memory of a former EIU administrator.

The concert, "An Ahn-core and a World Premiere," will begin at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 18, in the Doudna's Dvorak Concert Hall.

The Ahn Trio first performed in the Doudna Fine Arts Center in 2009, and they are excited to return.

“We have played in all 50 states and in 30 countries around the world, and we would rank the Dvorak Concert Hall at EIU’s Doudna Fine Arts Center among the top 10 places we have ever played," the group said. "We love the acoustics and the sound of that hall!”

The focus of their visit will be the premiere of "Kapustin Trio No. 1 (Op. 136)," the work the Doudna Fine Arts Center commissioned from the Ahns and Russian composer Nikolai Kapustin.

The three-movement trio for violin, cello, and piano will honor the late Barbara Hill, a former EIU vice president and provost who once served as acting president of EIU and was extremely active in the community.

The commissioned work was funded by a group of private donors.

Once the work is premiered at the Doudna, it will be added to the artists' repertoire for future performances. It will always carry crediting information that celebrates the Doudna Fine Arts Center and honors Hill.

Kapustin has written a dozen works for chamber ensembles. All are difficult to play, but this composition is of the "utmost difficulty," Kapustin said.

"Therefore, any three persons who are gifted enough for overcoming all the difficulties existing in this trio may be safely considered heroes and decorated with an order for courage," Kapustin said.

The Ahn Trio is up to the challenge. Born in Seoul, Korea, and educated at the Juilliard in New York City, the members of the Ahn Trio (cellist Maria, pianist Lucia, and violinist Angella) are constantly redefining the art and architecture of chamber music.

Breathing new life into the standard piano-trio literature with commissioned works from visionary composers including Kapustin, Michael Nyman, Maurice Jarre, Pat Metheny, Paul Schoenfield, Mark O' Connor, Kenji Bunch and Paul Chihara, the Ahn Trio brings a new energy and excitement to the chamber music world.

Possessing an enviable combination of talent and style, they have long been natural subjects for the international press. They made their magazine premiere very early on in a Time cover story, "Asian American Whiz Kids"; appeared in Vogue and GQ, as well as in ad campaigns for GAP and Anne Klein; were named three of People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People in 2003; and made the pages of Glamour this past summer.

Tickets -- $15 for the general public, $12 for EIU employees and senior citizens, and $7 for students -- may be purchased in person at the Doudna Fine Arts Center Box Office, by telephone at 217-581-3110, or online at http://www.eiu.edu/doudna.

The Doudna Fine Arts Center is a division of the EIU College of Arts and Humanities.