Eroica Trio headlines music fest in Eureka Springs

Friday, June 22, 2012

A“heroic” trio will perform during the CICA Summer Music Festival in Eureka Springs.

Eroica Trio will be playing today and Saturday during the festival. The CICA Summer Music Festival continues through July 7, and it features programs for students, teachers and professional musicians who want to pursue high quality learning and performing experiences during the summer, according to the festival website. The festival includes orchestra and chamber music programs, the CICA Suzuki Summer Institute, the International Concerto Competition and the Eureka Springs International Violin Makers Conference. Chamber groups and musicians from around the world will also perform in Eureka Springs during the festival.

One of these groups is the Eroica Trio, which is comprised of cellist Sara Sant’Ambrogio, violinist Susie Park and pianist Erika Nickrenz. The name “eroica” means heroic in Italian, Sant’Ambrogio says by phone in New York City. When they first started out as a trio, there were no women in any of the top chamber music groups and never had been, she says.

“We thought it was a heroic undertaking to try to break into the big time as an all-female group,” she says.

The three women have been playing together since they were 12, and as kids, they weren’t discouraged by the fact that no other women had reached the top of the chamber music scene.

They just loved playing together and wanted to perform concerts, Sant’Ambrogio says. She adds that they broke the gender barrier by becoming the first female group to make it in chamber music.

“Now there’s tons of girls in chamber music, and nobody thinks twice about it,” she says.

The trio have now beenplaying together for more than 20 years and have released eight records. Sant’Ambrogio describes their music as extremely passionate, emotional and alive.

With a piano in the trio, she says their music becomes orchestral, and they often use pieces made for orchestras and rearrange them for a trio. They perform jazz, Latin music, American music and pieces written almost 300 years ago. Her favorite is Latin music, but she also adores romantic music in which she can put her heart on her sleeve and bear her soul with the audience, she says, such as pieces from Johannes Brahms or Frederic Chopin.

During the summer music festival, Eroica Trio will play Ludwig van Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with the orchestra on Saturday, a piece Sant’Ambrogio says is really fun to watch and hear.

During the high tea today, Sant’Ambrogio will be performing “Flight of the Bumblebee.” She broke the world record for the fastest “Flight of the Bumblebee,” and she says she’ll see if she can beat it at the tea.

“I’ll drink a lot of coffee before that concert,” she says with a laugh.

Sant’Ambrogio grew up in St. Louis and knows the Ozarks area, and she is really excited to come back because she hasn’t been since she was a kid. She’s also looking forward to seeing a festival involving students and music that broadens the appeal of classical music.

“I think music in general is just such a powerful force for good in the world,” she says.

Whats Up, Pages 14 on 06/22/2012