Our distinguished faculty combine a dedication to teaching and developing music students with the experience and polish of professional performing careers. The Department of Music hosts several faculty ensembles—the Connecticut Trio and Rosa-Laurent Duo—to broaden students’ exposure to live performance as well as provide the University and surrounding community with exceptional performances. In addition, faculty regularly collaborate in other ensembles, such as brass and woodwind quintets and jazz combos, to perform at venues both on campus and across the region.
The Rosa-Laurent Duo
The ROSA-LAURENT DUO has been heard in many concerts in the United States
and abroad, including recitals in London, Brussels, Hamburg and Vienna. One of the leading Brussels critics remarked of its playing: "Great precision and sensitivity . . . beautiful unity by the these perfect chamber musicians, always in the spirit of the composer."
In 1996 The Duo played a concert of American and Italian music at the American Academy in Rome which was broadcast by Vatican Radio throughout Europe and South America. Its subsequent tour of North Africa was sponsored in part by the U.S. State Department, and by the Société des Amis de Chopin in Casablanca.
Persistent advocates for new music, the Duo presented a spectrum of twentieth-century masterpieces both at Yale University and Merkin Hall in 1999, including the world premiere of a work written for it by Martin Bresnick. Its 2002 recital in Weill Hall at Carnegie Recital Hall was given under the auspices of the Italian Cultural Institute of New York. Critics have praised its high artistic standards, catholic repertoire and dedication to new music.
The Duo has been heard on Connecticut and National Public Radios, and recorded on the Desto, Overtone and Ersta labels.
For concert information call 860.832.2912
The Connecticut Trio
The Connecticut Trio traces its formal beginnings to the spring of 1994 when pianist Linda Laurent, violinist Gerard Rosa, and cellist Julie Ribchinsky played the Beethoven "Archduke" Trio at a concert at Carnegie Recital Hall. The enthusiastic reception accorded that performance encouraged the artists to join their efforts in the creation of a permanent ensemble.
Their travels have taken them, collectively and severally, to London, Brussels, Hamburg, Vienna, Rome, Tunis and Casablanca, as well as Merkin Hall, Weill Hall, Town Hall, the Kosciuszko Foundation, Wave Hill and Kaufmann Auditorium in New York City. Their CD of four major works of the distinguished American composer Ezra Laderman was issued by Albany Records. Of their 1999 concert at the Landon Gallery in New York, critic Dennis Rooney, in the internationally prestigious Strad Magazine, commented on the "wonderfully played Arensky Trio whose exceptional beauty was fully realized by the players' outstanding teamwork."
The Trio has made a commitment to performing works of living composers, and has had pieces written for it, including Brian Kershner's New England Trio, which the ensemble premiered at Carnegie Recital Hall in 2005. It has also performed recent trios by Joan Tower, Judith Shatin and Jennifer Higdon.
In addition to its travels, The Connecticut Trio gives an ongoing series of concerts locally, at Central Connecticut State University, where they are Professors of Music, and at the New Britain Museum of American Art. As soloists with the New Britain Symphony, the ensemble played the Beethoven Triple Concerto "as it must only be done, by three virtuosi. . . to a standing ovation." (New Britain Herald).
In a review of their concert in Hartford's Belding Theater at The Bushnell, critic Matthew Erikson (Hartford Courant) wrote: "The Connecticut Trio played superbly and, together with its support for new music, amply demonstrated. . . that it is one of the foremost treasures in Hartford's classical music scene."
The Trio recently completed its 20th season with a gala concert and reception at the New Britain Museum of American Art. An article devoted to the ensemble was featured in CCSU's Courier and Focus magazines, and in May it was presented the Arts Organization Award for 2014 by the Greater New Britain Arts Alliance.
For concert information, call 860.832.2912
