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Members of the ensemble are Slawomir Dobrzanski – piano, Blanka Bednarz – violin and Cheung Chau – cello. All three are assistant professors at Kansas State University (Dobrzanski), Dickinson College (Bednarz) and Georgia Southern University (Chau). Chau is also Music Director of Georgia Southern Symphony in the US and and General and Artistic Director of Sinfonietta Polonia in Poland (www.sinfoniettapolonia.pl).
Atma
Trio was founded in 2002. Inspired by the music of Karol Szymanowski and
enchanted with Szymanowski's favorite dwelling, Villa Atma in the Tatra Mountain
resort town of Zakopane in Poland, the artists chose the Sanskrit word
"atman" (soul) for their ensemble. Szymanowski's only piano trio did
not survive the composer's scrutiny. Yet the members of Atma Trio often perform
his works for solo piano, violin and piano or transcriptions for cello and
piano, as well as his violin concertos. The Trio's programs are usually diverse,
featuring not only trios, but solos, duos, and larger works in collaboration
with guest performers,
Bednarz at times exchanging her violin for viola.
Atma
Trio has collaborated with such artists as violinists Adrian Levine, Mark
Ptashne, Natalia Walewska and Kin Chau, violists Timothy Deighton, Marcin
Murawski and Lukasz Lisowski, pianists Jennifer Blyth, Teres Löf, Karla Qualls,
Martin Hellstrom, Joanna Michna, Rafal Lewandowski, clarinetists Linda
Cionitti and Fan Lei, members of the Mendelssohn Piano Trio and Hölderlin
Quartet.
In 2007 the trio performed in Miami, FL for the Chopin Foundation, at
Kansas State University, in Poland and Germany, in Music At First Series in PA
and with
the Connecticut Virtuosi in Beethoven’s Triple Concerto. Atma Trio also
released a CD on the leading Polish label Acte Prealable (APO172) with trios by
Mendelssohn and Ravel. In
2008-09 season, the artists concertize, among others, at Chanterelle Festival,
in Savannah, GA, at Grace Cathedral in Topeka, KS, at Wichita State University,
in Warsaw, Poland,
Beijing
and Zionjiang (China).
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