Claremont Trio Celebrates Twentieth Anniversary

courtesy of Christina Jensen PR

Today Tria Records released a new album to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Claremont Trio, a piano trio whose members are Emily Bruskin on violin, Julia Bruskin on cello, and Andrea Lam on piano. As of this writing the album is only available for MP3 download through Amazon.com. Curiously, Google does not shine a particularly useful light on this release, since, as of this writing, the only hyperlink for album purchase directs one to the Amazon Web page for the Audio CD, which is listed as “Temporarily out of stock” and is not processing pre-orders! Even more ironic is the absence of any mention of this album in the Recordings section of the trio’s Web site. Apparently, pandemic confusion still rules.

The title of the new album is Queen of Hearts, which is also the title of the final track on the album. This was composed for the trio by Kati Agócs in 2017, when she was supported by a commission by Chamber Music Northwest. The title has nothing to do with Lewis Carroll; but it was inspired by a deck of cards, in which that specific card is sometimes referred to as the “mother of higher love.” The music was structured as a set of variations; but I have to confess that, even after several listenings, it left little impact on either the present or any memories of the past.

Indeed, of the six compositions on this album, only the opening section by Gabriela Lena Frank left any registration on attention. Her selection was composed in 2012; and, like much of her music, it explores her reflections on her Peruvian heritage. (Her mother was Peruvian but of Chinese descent. She met her father, an American descended from Lithuanian Jews, when he was working as Peace Corps volunteer in Peru.) Frank’s composition on the album reflects on four Andean folk songs; and, as usual, she has an engaging sense of rhythm to lead the listener through her indigenous thematic content.

The other composers on the album are Sean Shepherd, Judd Greenstein, Helen Grime, and Nico Muhly. Only Muhly’s repertoire is familiar to me; but I doubt that I shall work up any memories of the repetitive techniques he applied to “Common Ground” (which deserves credit for being a clever pun). Most disappointing was Greenstein’s “A Serious Man,” which falls into what I like to call the “family album” genre, clearly meaningful to the composer but with little impact on anyone else.

It is worth noting that Agócs’ composition is the most recent of the selections on the album. In other words all the music being performed is “pre-pandemic.” There does not seem to be any indication of when (or where) any of those selections were recorded. The trio is based in New York, but their touring schedule seems to include both the United States and Mexico. I have not been able to find evidence of their having performed in San Francisco. Apparently, the trio took its name from Claremont Avenue in Morningside Heights in New York City, one of the more attractive areas on the island. I am a bit disappointed that their music does not rise to the same level as their appreciation of New York geography.