Trio con Brio Copenhagen

Formed in 1999 at Vienna’s Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst, the Trio con Brio Copenhagen began when all three musicians were enrolled there as students. Two interlocking pairs have defined the ensemble from its first days: South Korean sisters Soo-Jin Hong on violin and Soo-Kyung Hong on cello, together with Soo-Kyung’s marriage to Danish pianist Jens Elvekjaer. Early guidance came from the Alban Berg Quartet and pianist Ferenc Rados. The trio soon relocated to Copenhagen and has remained based there ever since.

Beyond the concert platform, the group shapes Danish musical life through its artistic leadership of the Chamber Music at Lundsgaard Festival and the Hellerup Chamber Music Society in Copenhagen. Its commitment to new music is reflected in commissions from Scandinavian composers Per Nørgård, Bent Sørensen, and Sven-David Sandström. International engagements have taken the trio to such landmarks as Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Berlin’s Pierre Boulez-Saal, London’s Wigmore Hall, and both Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York.

On disc, the ensemble’s 2007 self-titled Azica release presented piano trios by Ravel, Dvořák, and Ernest Bloch. Two years later, a Marquis Records album featured the Mendelssohn trios. Since issuing Phantasmagoria: Danish Piano Trios on Dacapo in 2013, the group has recorded exclusively for Dacapo or Orchid Classics; the latter label issued its album The Passenger: Weinberg, Schubert.