French pianist born in Romania, Ancuza Aprodu began studying piano at the age of 4 and one year later won the Interpretation Competition of Suceava. She obtained her Piano Diploma at the National Academy “G.VERDI” of Turin and won prizes at several international competitions. In the realm of contemporary music, she contributed for several years as permanent member or as an invited soloist, to the activities of such ensembles as Antidogma Musica, I solisti della Camerata Casella, Neues Ensemble Linz and in particular L’Ensemble Orchestral Contemporain.
As a curious and passionate musician, Gaël Rassaert benefited from studies in France and abroad (Netherlands, Germany), before returning to settle in Lyon. Laureate of several chamber music competitions (Guidel, Privas, Fnapec), he plays regularly with such orchestras as the Orchestre National de Lyon and the Opéra National de Lyon. He has an active career as a chamber musician, playing mainly in the Quark Trio, Rassaert Quartet), but also participates in string sextets or octets, in many festivals in France, Spain, Portugal, England, Switzerland, Russia, Lithuania, India, Sri Lanka, the United States, Venezuela, Pakistan and Korea. Rasssaert is a member of the ensemble Darcos of Portugal (whose musical director is the composer Nuno Corte-Real), which allows him to regularly play chamber music for Portuguese radio and television.
After graduation in cello section of the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Lyon in 1994, Valerie Dulac continued her artistic development as a member of a string trio in master classes with the Trio à cordes de Paris, the Fine Arts Quartet and le Quatuor Mosaïque. While a member of the Orchestra of the Opéra National de Lyon for nearly 10 years, she began to move toward a more eclectic repertoire. She is a specialist in the performance of contemporary music and became solo cellist of the Ensemble Orchestral Contemporain under the direction of Daniel Kawka in 1997. With this ensemble, she performs in many festivals and concerts in France and abroad (Canada, Spain, Portugal, Brazil, Poland, Italy, etc.) and works regularly with composers.
Program
Trio Ancuza Aprodu is bringing its Claude Debussy Centenary program to the Morrison Artists Series, with a program featuring works by Debussy himself alongside the music of two composers with whom he is closely associated: Maurice Ravel and Gabriel Fauré.
Debussy’s Piano Trio in G (1880) is one of the composer’s earliest works, composed in Fiesole, Italy at the age of 18 while staying at the home of Nadezhda von Meck. Von Meck regularly hosted students from the Paris Conservatory during the summer months and Debussy was one of the students chosen for the summer of 1880. The Trio, which is cast in four movements, was considered lost until the manuscript was discovered in 1982 in the estate of Maurice Dumesnil, a pupil of Debussy’s.
Maurice Ravel’s Sonata for Violin and Cello was composed between 1920 and 1922 and is dedicated to the memory of Debussy, who had died in 1918. The final work on the program, Gabriel Fauré’s Piano Trio in D minor, Op. 120, was composed 1922 – 1923, following his retirement as director of the Paris Conservatory.
Residency activities
In addition to the concert, Trio Ancuza Aprodu will conduct residency activities in the School of Music, under the auspices of the Morrison Chamber Music Center on Friday, April 12, at 2 p.m. Residency activities are free and open to the public to observe. No tickets are required. For details, please contact cginwala@sfsu.edu.
Pre-concert talk
In addition to the concert, Trio Ancuza Aprodu will participate in a pre-concert talk on Friday, April 12 at 7 p.m. in Knuth Hall (Room 132) in SF State’s Creative Arts Building, under the auspices of the Morrison Chamber Music Center. The pre-concert event is free and open to the public to observe. No tickets are required.
Tickets
Admission-Free tickets for Trio Ancuza Aprodu concert will be available beginning March 22, 2019, through the Morrison Artists Series website or through Simpletix. Tickets may not be reserved by email or U.S. Mail. Reserved tickets may be printed at home, displayed on a phone or other device or picked up at the box office at will call on the day of the event. Box office hours are one hour prior to events.