Ahn Trio, chamber musicians, set for July 12 at Redlands Bowl

The New Ahn-Plugged Program comes to the Redlands Bowl Summer Music Festival on Friday, July 12, at 8:15 p.m. The Ahn sisters--violinist Angella, pianist Lucia, and cellist Maria-- combine their extraordinary and world renowned chamber style with contemporary music, much of it composed or arranged just for them.
The Ahn Trio, Juilliard trained musicians, first gained recognition
while in their teens in 1987 when they were featured in a TIME Magazine cover story titled "Asian-American Whiz Kids", and since then, they have performed more than 100 concerts a year throughout the world, including at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie's Weill Hall, and Moscow's Tchaikovsky Hall. They have been EMI recording artists since 1997. This amazing ensemble has been hailed for their gifted performances wherever they go. The Washington Post praised them for their balance of
"unanimity and individuality in a spirit that is at the heart of chamber music."
With their passionate dedication to the commissioning and
performance of contemporary music, they have developed the Ahn-Plugged project. This has led to significant additions to the piano trio repertoire, some of which they will perform for their Redlands Bowl concert.
They have programmed the "Engadiner Suite" composed for them by Academy Award winner Maurice Jarre about the beautiful valley in Switzerland when Jarre lives part-time. "The most impressive thing about Jarre," says Lucia Ahn, "was that he is still so passionate about writing beautiful music."
Admitting that her favorite song is "Riders On the Storm" by The
Doors, Lucia and her sisters found composer Michal Rataj to transcribe the song for the trio. "We create a storm sound in the piano by throwing a tennis ball inside the piano onto the strings," explains Lucia.
Also on the program, "Swing Shift: Music for Evening Hours" was
composed for the trio by Kenji Bunch, a friend from their Juilliard years,and a composer and performer in a bluegrass band in New York City. In addition to performing and recording, the Ahn Trio conducts many workshops and master classes for children and adults, work for which they have received numerous awards including the Kentucky Colonels Award, a distinction they share with the late Bing Crosby and Red Skelton. On Saturday, July 13, at 10:00 a.m., the trio will present a free workshop, funded by the City of Redlands Community Development Block Grant for the
Children's Summer Music Festival at the Community Center, 111 W. Lugonia in Redlands.
This concert will begin at 8:15 p.m. Ushers will be representatives of Christ the King Lutheran Church, and Habitat for Humanity. The intermission speaker will be Jan Weder. Continuing the tradition begun in 1924, this and all concerts are open to the public at no charge, and a free-will offering will be collected at intermission. For more information about this concert, call the Redlands Bowl office at 909/793-7316 or visit the web site at www.redlandsbowl.org. The Redlands Bowl is located between Grant and Eureka Streets in Redlands, off of Brookside Avenue.