Hello, "K" Trio Fans!

Here's what we did in 2002 . . . sure kept us busy . . . 39 concert appearances . . . phew!

Our year started off with a bang with two The Schubert Club of Fairfield County concerts in Greenwich, CT . . . a "Vive La France" concert . . . where we included Saint-Saens' "Dance Macabre" and Debussy's "Clair de Lune" . . . and another at the Greenwich Arts Center where we included Robert Russell Bennett's "Four Nocturnes" with a few other light selections for an all-American program!

As always, The "K" Trio tries to "give back" some of our talent to the community by performing at senior residences throughout Connecticut. This year we were called back to many of the houses where we'd performed in the last few years . . . and our personal rewards were great . . . making audiences "happy" is quite a feeling . . . to experience the "involvement" that occurs when we reach an audience is exciting for us!


One of the highlights of our year was performing at the Tribute to Carmen Carrozza sponsored by the American Accordionists' Association. Carmen was always an inspiration to us as youngsters, from his wonderful judging comments . . . to listening him concertize as a soloist, and with orchestral accompaniment . . . to having "personal" conversations with him as we grew into young adults! We included Robert Russell Bennett's "Four Nocturnes" again here (Carmen is reknowned for his performances of the AAA Commissioned works), and an arrangement of John Serry's "Fantasy in F" . . . a piece that Julie and Mary heard Carmen perform with his "Concert Duo" partner, Eugene Ettore early in our career. We were performing as guest artists at the New York State Festival that year, and the committee came up short on judges! Well, Carmen took it upon himself to have Julie and Mary do the judging . . . our first experience . . . we were only 15 & 16 years old! Talk about "scary"!!!!!

Our schedule this year also included benefit events for the St. Jude's Children's Hospital, Ronald McDonald House, The Connecticut Council on Autism's annual "Walk for Autism", and the New Haven Register's Fresh Air Fund (a newspaper-sponsored event that provides needy children in New Haven County with summer camp programs free of charge!).

Our appearance at the Dogwood Festival in Fairfield was quite exciting . . . we were featured on an early-morning television news-cast for the event . . . which drew 10,000 people . . . even with a rainy start!

Again this year, we were invited to perform at the lovely Stamford Town Center Mall. The venue is exciting to play, as shoppers gaze down into the "Performance Center" from balconies on each of the shopping floors! The carpeted arena-style seating surrounds the performers, and we had a BLAST!

Summer was especially exciting, since we were invited to perform at the American Accordionists' Association Festival in Minneapolis, where we performed on the Tribute Concert . . . and again at the prestigious Heights Theater in downtown Minneapolis . . . where we premiered "Oh, za Haem, Haem" - a work written by Russian composer Sergey Khvoshchinsky. We also presented a workshop on precision ensemble techniques at the festival (we call it "How We Do It")!

While in Minnesota, our travels took us to "A World of Accordions Museum" . . . newly relocated to Superior, Wisconsin . . . where we had the privilege of presenting the first-ever concert in their new facility. The Harrington Arts Center Concert Hall was superb . . . the all-wooden former chapel had wonderful acoustics, was breath-taking in appearance, and the audience was overwhelmingly responsive to our music. We did a "Meet the Artists" program before the concert, as well as a radio interview and television taping . . . where we were asked many questions about our early music education. Many thanks to Helmi Harrington, Lynda Griffith, and all the "crew" at the museum! It's an event we will long remember!

On our way home to Connecticut, we stopped off in Youngstown, Ohio where we performed at Youngstown University's Bliss Recital Hall. The audience included many of the University's professors and musicians, as well as lots of accordion officionados (including the late Mickey Basilia's wife Marge). The reception of the audience was overwhelming for us . . . they wanted MORE! We were already invited back to do a workshop presentation and concert for the University's students! Many thanks to Betty Bannon for making all the arrangements for us . . . and for being a very hospitable hostess!

August took us into New York City to appear as guests of Dr. William Schimmel on the Workshop Series sponsored by the American Accordionists' Association at the Tenri Cultural Institute in Soho. Bill's wife, Micki Goodman (a professional modern impressionist dancer) performed a spectacular dance to our version of Debussy's "Clair de Lune"! Very exciting!

Again this year, we were lucky enough to perform twice with pianist Dr. Ward Davenny (Professor Emeritus from Yale University)! For this concert, he chose Mozart's Piano Quartet in E Flat Major, K 493 . . . we were thrilled to be invited for a second performance at the Connecticut State Music Teachers' Association, New Haven Chapter Youth Ensemble Recital Series. We sadly have to announce that this would be the last time we perform with Dr. Davenny, since he passed away early in December of 2002. Our time with him was truly special, and very educational for us . . . we will truly miss his charming personality, expertise, and love of classical music!

Our joy in performing music seems to grow each and every time we reach a new audience . . . it's a real thrill for us, and plans for travel in the United States for 2003 are shaping up to be quite a year!
 
The "K" Trio, 835 Mix Avenue, Apt T1, Hamden, CT 06514 USA
Phone: (203) 484 5095     E-Mail: mary.tokarski@comcast.net