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(c) Zuzanna Specjal
(adapted from Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights)
Trio Brontë is 1st prize winner and special prize winner of the Franz Schubert and Modern Music International Chamber Music Competition, 1st prize winner of the Ilmari Hannikainen International Chamber Music Competition, and 2nd prize winner of the Felix-Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Competition.
2025 was an exciting year for Trio Brontë: not only was it a busy year of competition successes, but the trio also released its debut album to critical acclaim of Franz Schubert’s B-flat Major Trio and Wolfgang Rihm’s Fremde Szene III. Praised equally for “truly [making] their instruments sing” (Klassik Heute) and “[sensitivity] to the finest nuances” just as they are for “powerful [playing], without hesitation” (Deutschlandfunk Kultur) and “eruptive outbursts” (Falter), the trio strives to inhabit many different sound worlds and bring curiosity, imagination, and spontaneity to all its repertoire.
In the coming seasons Trio Brontë looks forward to performances at Konzerthaus Berlin, “Konzerte im Salon” Linz, Musikverein Graz, the Kumho Festival in Finland, and a concert tour of the United States. The trio was also a Britten Pears Young Artist in 2024-25. Their recordings have been broadcasted in Germany (Deutschlandfunk Kultur), Austria (Ö1), France (Radio France), Finland (Areena), Bulgaria (Classic FM), and the United States (WXXI).
Trio Brontë is frequently asked how it got its name. The first piece Lili, Chiara, and Annie ever played together was Mendelssohn’s Trio No. 2 in C minor. Written just one year after Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights was published, there are striking mood similarities between Mendelssohn’s turbulent, stormy music and Brontë’s novel. Furthermore, both as friends and professional partners, Annie, Lili, and Chiara are inspired by the Brontë sisters as a symbol of artistic and personal independence, passion, and mutual support (“sisterhood”).
Lili, Chiara, and Annie met while studying at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin, where they study with Jonathan Aner at the Center for Chamber Music. They have received additional coaching from David Waterman, Eldar Nebolsin, Troels Svane, and Frans Helmerson.
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