On Sunday, May 16, 2021 at 4pm PT, the Boston-based Neave Trio returns – virtually – to the Ridgecrest Chamber Music Society for an online concert, marking the trio’s seventh appearance on the series. The performance was recorded in Pickman Hall at the Longy School of Music of Bard College, where the trio is on faculty. Tickets are available for purchase through Brown Paper Tickets at https://rcchambermusic.live/Neave.html, and instructions to watch the stream will be sent to registrants via email.

Neave Trio’s program includes Clara Schumann’s Piano Trio in G minor, Op. 17; Glinka’s Trio Pathètique in D minor; Shostakovich’s Piano Trio No. 1 in C minor, Op. 8; and Lili Boulanger’s D’un matin de printemps. The Schumann and Boulanger are part of a collection of works by women composers, spanning the Romantic era through the modern day, that Neave Trio has been performing around the U.S and worldwide.

Anna Williams, Neave Trio violinist, says, “There is so much great repertoire that is under-performed, especially from women composers, and we feel it is essential to program and record these masterworks alongside the more well- known catalogue of piano trio repertoire. These women really broke down barriers and paved the way for future generations and we are excited to honor their unique contributions and voices.”

Clara Schumann’s Piano Trio in G minor, Op. 17 is widely regarded as one of her best-known compositions. It was written after she endured a great personal loss and is full of heartfelt melodies and beautiful harmonies. You can hear her brilliant pianism, and arguably, musical inspiration that she provided to some of her famous male composer contemporaries. Lili Boulanger, noted by Gabriel Fauré as an incredible prodigy, was the first woman to win the Prix de Rome (1913). D’un matin de printemps is full of character and joy, though it was the last work she wrote before her death at the very young age of 24.

Originally titled Poème and dedicated to Shostakovich’s love interest, his first trio was written when he was only sixteen. It is full of beautiful, sincere and heartfelt melodies, but Shostakovich’s sonority, harmonies and textures are unmistakably recognizable even at this tender age. Known as the father of the Russian classical music tradition, Glinka wrote his Trio Pathètique in D minor while in Italy. It is unapologetically romantic, lush, and operatic. Inspired by heartbreak, Glinka wrote on the score, “The only way I know love, is by the pain it causes.”