Lunchtime Concert: Koru Trio – Music by Smetana and Dvorak

Programme

A. Dvořák – Silent Woods (Waldesruhe) op.68 no.5 for cello and piano

B. Smetana – Piano Trio in g minor op.15

The Koru Trio was formed in 2011 by Rachel, Anne and Sally—three colleagues and friends—while waiting in an airport lounge during a tour with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. United by a shared passion for chamber music, they set out to explore some of the most beloved works in the piano trio repertoire. Since then, they have enjoyed performing music by Beethoven, Schubert, Shostakovich, Brahms, Dvořák, Mendelssohn, Haydn, and many others.

Anne Loeser studied violin in Frankfurt and played in the  Beethoven Orchestra Bonn, the Hesse State Theatre Orchestra in Wiesbaden and the award-winning Orfeo Quartet. She moved to New Zealand from Germany in 2000 to join the First violin section of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. Since then she has left a mark on the New Zealand music scene as a soloist and chamber musician. She is leader and musical director of Camerata, concert master of Days Bay Opera and has been a regular guest concertmaster of the Hawke’s Bay Orchestra and recently guest concertmaster for Dunedin Symphony Orchestra. She is also an active performer on baroque violin, leading the Orion Quartet and performing several cycles of Biber’s Rosary Sonatas, including a well received RNZ Concert broadcast.

Sally Isaac is approaching her 20 year anniversary in the NZSO after joining in 2005. She became a member of the cello section shortly after graduating from Cleveland Institute of Music with a Masters of Music degree. She also holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Australian National University in her hometown of Canberra, Australia. Sally was a fellowship recipient at the Tanglewood Music Center, USA, for the 2004 Summer Festival and has been a member of the Canberra, Akron and Canton symphony orchestras. Sally also enjoys teaching a small number of young students, while also balancing those commitments with being the resident practice coach for her own children’s instrumental lessons.

Rachel Thomson was born in Dunedin, New Zealand, and grew up in Wellington where she began her piano studies with her mother. She went on to study with Judith Clark, graduating from Victoria University of Wellington before continuing her studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music in the United States, where she gained a doctorate in piano performance. Rachel regularly performs with some of the country’s leading musicians and has toured on numerous occasions for Chamber Music New Zealand. She has worked as an orchestral pianist with the NZSO, Orchestra Wellington, and the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra. Rachel is also active as a teacher, adjudicator and accompanist, and is a music examiner for Trinity College London. She enjoys the variety of work that comes her way, and spending time with her family and boomeranging children when she can!