The Damocles Trio has performed throughout the USA, appeared often at Alice Tully Hall in New York City and toured Switzerland with great success in 1999 and 2001. The ensemble was founded in 1996 by pianist Adam Kent, violinist Airi Yoshioka and cellist Sibylle Johner who met in the doctoral program at The Juilliard School. The trio made its New York debut in 2000 in an all-Spanish program at Merkin Concert Hall sponsored by the Spanish Consulate. The only piano trio to advance to the finals of the 2002 International Concert Artists Guild Competition, the Damocles Trio has been featured frequently on Robert Sherman’s "Young Artists Showcase" on WQXR radio.
Sampler CDs featuring works by Joaquin Turina¸ Ernesto Halffter, Roberto Gerhard and Felix Mendelssohn are available. A commercial recording including the complete piano trios and the piano quartet of Joaquin Turina with violist Lawrence Dutton is currently in the works. For more information, visit the trio’s website at: www.damoclestrio.com.
ADAM KENT
Pianist Adam Kent has performed in recital, as soloist with orchestra and in chamber music throughout the United States, Spain, Switzerland and South America. A winner of the American Pianists Association Fellowship and Simon Belsky Music Awards, Mr. Kent also received top prizes in the Thomas Richner, the Juilliard Concerto and the Kosciuszko Foundation Chopin Competitions and is a recipient of the Arthur Rubinstein Prize and the Harold Bauer Award. Mr. Kent made his New York recital debut at Weill Hall in 1989 and has been featured on radio stations WQXR, WNYC and WFUV.
Mr. Kent has offered several all-Spanish programs in recent seasons at Merkin Concert Hall, the Mannes College of Music, the Indianapolis Museum of Art, the Spanish Institute, The University of Vermont, the CUNY Graduate Center, the Americas Society and the Bruno Walter Auditorium. His critically acclaimed recording of the complete solo piano music of Ernesto Halffter is available on Bridge Records.
AIRI YOSHIOKA
Violinist Airi Yoshioka has concertized throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and Canada. Deeply committed to chamber music, Ms. Yoshioka is a founding member of the Damocles Trio and Modigliani Quartet. Her orchestral credits include performances with the American Sinfonietta and engagements as concertmaster and soloist with the Manhattan Virtuosi and one of the Aspen Music Festival orchestras. An enthusiastic performer of new music, she was one of the original members and concertmasters of the New Juilliard Ensemble and has performed annually in the school’s FOCUS! Festival, with the Lower Eastside Ensemble for Contemporary Music, ModernWorks! and Continuum.
Educational outreach has been a vital aspect of Ms. Yoshioka’s progfessional life through her work as a teaching artist for the New York Philharmonic and Lincoln Center Institute. She has also taught music at New York City public schools through The Juilliard School’s Morse Fellowship program and has performed in hospitals, hospices and nursing homes as a recipient of the Community Service Fellowship.
SIBYLLE JOHNER
Cellist Sibylle Johner has performed extensively throughout North America and Europe. She has been principal cellist in several productions at the Caramoor Center for Music and Arts and played regularly on the BachWorks series directed by Anthony Newman. Merkin Hall appearances include concerts with harpsichordist Bradley Brookshire and singers Dana Hanchard and Bejun Mehta.
Ms. Johner is a winner of both the Drake and Zurich Conservatory soloist competitions and a recipient of the Dienemann, Ernst Goehner and Eubie Blake Scholarship Awards. She was a student of Harvey Shapiro at The Juilliard School where she was awarded a Doctor of Musical Arts degree. Ms. Johner has performed and taught at the MidAmerica Summer Chamber Music Institute at Ohio Wesleyan University and at the Milwaukee Chamber Music Festival at the University of Wisconsin. She currently serves as string department chairperson at the Third Street Music School Settlement in New York City.
