The Ahn Trio Connect

The Ahn Trio shatters stereotypes about the presentation of chamber music with their selection of traditional and contemporary music. Sisters Maria on cello, Lucia on piano, and Angella on violin bring a fresh and innovative approach to chamber music presentation through their highly skilled ensemble playing.   Photo by John-Bernard Villareal

Mention chamber music, and the image of awe-struck middle, high school and college students — and quite a few adults --- clamoring backstage to meet the performers after an engagement isn’t an image that’s likely to come to mind. It is, however, what happens when those students and adults are exposed to a young, hip, chamber music trio with an eclectic sound and a fresh and innovative approach to the music.

From January through April of 2002, Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation’s ArtsCONNECT program funded a tour of the Ahn Trio with support from the National Endowment for the Arts Regional Touring Program. The presenter’s intent was to expose chamber music to middle school, high school and college students in rural, underserved communities in Maryland and Pennsylvania. The performances, residencies and workshops culminated in a successful tour of a part of the region with limited resources. The Ahn Trio was an appropriate choice, as the artists’ goals and vision matched the presenters’ missions.

The consortium included the lead presenter, Garrett Lakes Arts Festival in McHenry, Maryland, Messiah College in Grantham, Pennsylvania, Warren Concert Association in Warren, Pennsylvania, Washington and Jefferson College in Washington, Pennsylvania, and Weinberg Center for the Arts in Frederick, Maryland. The five presenters collaborated to create a tour of performances, residencies and workshops in the Appalachian Mountain region: Western Maryland and adjoining sections of West Virginia, Western and Northwestern Pennsylvania and Frederick County and greater Frederick, Maryland. This was also the first time that they collaborated on a block-booking project.

Violinist Angella Ahn, and her sisters, twins Lucia and Maria, a pianist and cellist respectively, are graduates of the Julliard School with an inventive outlook to their music, performances and image. Their repertoire is a combination of traditional and modern chamber music, including an arrangement of the Doors’ rock classic, Riders on the Storm. They are committed to performing the work of living classical and chamber music composers. In 1997, the trio performed with rock guitarist Bryan Adams on MTV’s Unplugged. The performance inspired their innovative performance concept, Ahn-Plugged, also the title of their recording released in 2000. Their next recording for EMI Classics will be released in October 2002.

At first glance, the trio could be mistaken for a pop group or a trio of super models; they have, in fact, modeled for The Gap advertisements and appeared in Vogue, GQ and Town and Country. Their fashionable and glamorous appearance is light years away from the staid, tuxedoed image usually associated with chamber musicians. The image evolved naturally and wasn’t a preconceived marketing hook. "I think if you’re an artist or an entertainer, you have to be who you are. It only works if you show your true self," said Angella Ahn. "We’re three young women, we like attractive things, we like fashion, and we’re just on stage being who we are. When we first left Julliard, we felt like maybe we should try to be or look this way, play this kind of music. We were trying to fit in and think of how this genre worked. As we grew, we let go and became more who we are. We’re happier, we have a bigger following and we feel more free to express who we are as we’ve grown.

The trio presents the music in a variety of venues in addition to the standard concert hall in their quest to make chamber music accessible to as wide an audience as possible.

"The best way to describe the AhnPlugged concept is letting go, dealing with the music, the beauty and excitement of the music and having no preconceived rules," said Angella Ahn. "We play all kinds of music and all kinds of people can come to our performances. You don’t have to be an ‘educated’ listener. The ‘elitist’ aspect of classical music upsets me. Who am I to say that’s someone isn’t ‘educated’ enough to enjoy it? I’m there to give them a really nice experience."

The Appalachian Mountain region is major change from a concert hall, and Angella said the Trio was very excited about touring the area. "I think going to rural areas can be a lot more rewarding than going to a city like New York or Seattle or Portland, where there’s more going on. People have more choices there are many things to choose from. It’s nice to be in a big city, but when you go to a smaller place they really appreciate it and are excited that we came to their little town."

Linda Jose, of Garrett Lakes Arts Festival in McHenry, Maryland was the lead presenter of the tour and made the initial contact with presenters in her region through e-mail. Jose left her position at Garrett Lakes Arts Festival after initiating the project, and Elizabeth Johnson completed the project. In April, Garrett Lakes Arts Festival presented the Ahn Trio in a community performance and hosted residency activities for Northern Garrett and Southern Garrett middle and high school students.

Johnson agrees that the that the trio’s youth and the look of their marketing materials attracted interest in the performance, but the venue’s marketing and publicity was targeted to a general audience. "As far as targeting a younger audience, we have student reps from the two high schools in our county. We only have two high schools, and we’re a rural, small county. The students were able to help promote the performance in the schools. We distributed fliers and the marketing materials for the trio were a tremendous public relations tool."

There are unexpected reactions when the uninitiated attend a chamber music performance, but in this instance, the musicians welcomed the minor distractions.

"There were a few people in the audience who applauded between movements," said Johnson. "After the concert, I mentioned this to one of the musicians and she said, ‘It’s fantastic because that shows us we are getting a new classical audience.’"

"The two residency programs for 570 ninth through twelfth grade students were the most positive thing of the three days they were here," said Johnson. After the performance, the students completed surveys and "ninety-nine percent were positive. Quite a few had never attended a classical performance and were now interested in it. That’s truly why we brought them here in the first place."

The trio drew one of the largest audiences for chamber music at their engagement and attracted a younger audience at Warren Concert Association in Warren, Pennsylvania, according to presenter David Kasper.

"We try to offer a variety of musical styles to the audience," he said. "One of the committee members mentioned the Ahn Trio, and after receiving a biography and their music from Joanne Rile, I played the CD for committee members and their eyes just popped open. It was WOW! We did more research and discovered they had quite a reputation, were young and very attractive. We decided it would be a fantastic offering in that style of music that would attract attention from our subscribers. We were very happy with their performance and the response."

The Ahn Trio booking decision was actually made before the lead presenter approached Warren Concert Association to participate in the ArtsCONNECT grant application.

This was also Kasper’s first opportunity to participate in Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation’s ArtsCONNECT program, a component of the National Endowment for the Arts Regional Touring Program. "I think it’s a wonderful program. It’s impossible to measure the value of this kind of program to presenters in small communities," said Kasper. "We don’t have the resources of Philadelphia, Pittsburgh or Baltimore, nor the market for some of these performers. We had about 440 people at that performance and it was a wonderful success for us."

In addition to the Ahn Trio, this season the Warren Concert Association has presented the Preservation Hall Band, Mantovani Orchestra and Chorus, the men’s vocal ensemble Chanticleer and closed the season with the Pittsburgh Symphony Chamber Orchestra. They also feature special programs as Sunday Matinees and presented Chautauqua Children’s Chorale and the Washington High School Steel Band.

An open rehearsal with the Ahn Trio was offered to high school students, and local high school orchestra students were invited to attend the evening concert. "My board is committed to involving young people. When it’s appropriate, we issue invitations to county high schools," said Kasper. "There are five high schools, three have orchestras and all have marching bands. We make opportunities for students to interact with the musicians through artist receptions, for example."

"Working with students is so important,"Angella Ahn said, emphatically. "When we were growing up our parents took us to concerts. It was normal for us to see a concert once or twice a week. We took it for granted. When we do a workshop, we ask the students how many have actually attended a classical or chamber music concert; we’ll see two hands out of two hundred. That is really sad to me. It’s our job to make sure that young students are exposed to this."

Kasper’s enthusiasm is still evident months after the performance when he describes the student’s reception of the trio. "(They were received) Wonderfully! We had them do a mix of traditional and contemporary music. The audience loved them and the only negative comment we received was ‘I wished they’d kept playing!’ This performance brought in younger people from Northwest Pennsylvania and Western New York, including members of the Jamestown Youth Orchestra. Area colleges were also targeted in the marketing. Four vans of St. Bonaventure University students and priests attended the performance as well, and they were just enthralled."

The trio’s innovative approach and unconventional arrangements paid off in this performance as well. "During intermission as I was going backstage one of my audience members asked me, ‘Dave, can you tell me the significance of the tennis ball on the piano?’ Not knowing this either, I asked the musicians. They said the tennis ball was for a number they felt they might do in second half of the performance. ‘We’re not sure the audience will enjoy that, ‘ they said. I told them, ‘I have an audience with very wide tolerance.’ They bounced the ball on the strings of the piano and created ‘thunder’ and the audience was enthralled. (the trio incorporates the tennis ball during the performance of the Doors’ Riders on the Storm; the ball on the strings of the piano creates a "storm" sound). "It was extremely non-traditional chamber music. Some audience members wanted more traditional, some wanted more new, but the trio struck a new balance. They got people to hear things that they otherwise might not listen to," he said.

Kasper is committed to creating opportunities to expose young audiences to non-traditional music and credits Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts Regional Touring Program for giving organizations like Warren Concert Association the opportunity. He loved the concept of collaborating with the presenters and is interested in working with other members of the consortium in the future.

Ronald Sherhofer, Director of the Olin Fine Arts Center at Washington and Jefferson College was also excited about being a member of the consortium and working with the lead presenter. "Linda Jose, the lead presenter was the only presenter that I was directly in touch with. I found her quite helpful; it was the first opportunity I had to take a trip to her office and talk about the programs she’s doing, how we might effectively coordinate and promote the Ahn Trio and discuss longer range possibilities. The ArtsCONNECT grant gave us the opportunity to meet with presenters in an area that we haven’t had contact with."

The Ahn Trio’s sold-out appearance in February, 2002 was the first time the Olin Fine Arts Center’s theater was filled for a chamber music performance. In light of how teenagers are inundated with popular music, the trio’s residency with a group of middle school students was successful. "I think we do a fair amount of classical music here; a lot is very "high brow" in terms of content and marketing, said Sherhofer. "We never made a direct effort to market to a younger audience. The idea evolved from conversations with the musicians and their management. One of the attractions of booking them was to try to reach a new audience. It was intentional. The way we promoted it was deliberate, to take advantage of the special characteristics of three young musicians," said Sherhofer.

"For the master class, we worked with the director of music at Trinity Middle School, which is located in the Greater Washington school district. You could see the rapport the trio had with the young kids. They were supportive and non-judgmental, there was an extensive question and answer session and in the lecture demonstration for the wide audience and kids from the master class. They set the tone for both sessions."

Sherhofer said the educational component of the event was very successful, given the number of students, quality of the master class, range of questions and the number of people who came to the performance. People who came to the previous performance also attended the master class. "One thing that struck me was the reception following the performance. The audience was a significantly younger one; younger than any we got from any classical performance. The musicians stayed after the performance to sign CDs and they were very gracious. There was almost like a rock concert reception, the kids were in awe, the musicians were gracious, students were clamoring to talk to the musicians."

"I think the students related to us better because we look young; they look at us and think, ‘These are normal people like us,’ " said Angella Ahn. "If we tell them, classical music is cool they believe us. These teenyboppers came to our concert and said, ‘Wow! You’re as cool as N’ Sync!’ and the thought that they can relate to us means a lot."

Stewart Seal, Executive Director of the Weinberg Center for the Arts in Frederick, MD had a similar reaction from the students in the Frederick Youth Orchestra who participated in a master class with the trio.

"They were ecstatic," said Seal. "The kids had a great time and there were 30-40 kids and their parents. The most memorable event was during the workshop when Maria Ahn, the cello player, demonstrated the way a student held the cello; it completely changed the tone and everything they did with the cello. The Youth Orchestra came back to see the concert that night. There were about 60 people from the orchestra, parents and children.

It was one of the most successful workshops we’ve ever done."

"The most important thing is to break the barrier, not that we have one, said Angella Ahn. "There isn’t a wall between the stage and the audience. In workshops you can take it to another step and make it casual and engaging. We’re in a small intimate area, they see us walk in and set up, they can watch us unpacking getting tuned, preparing. They feel we’re normal, friendly."

Messiah College in Grantham, Pennsylvania also hosted a music seminar and concert. The music department of Messiah College, local string instructors and their students and students in the Harrisburg area were invited to participate.

In keeping with their progressive methods of helping audiences appreciate chamber music, their workshops also reflect their love for freedom of expression and belief that there are many ways to listen to music. "Instead of playing an entire work we play five minutes and talk about the piece," said Ahn. "We get them to think about it. We have people close their eyes and focus on their aural impressions. We encourage them to use their imagination and encourage them to create a ‘screen play’ of the music. We provide the music and they provide the feelings and emotions. The details and the phenomenal stories people tell us when they really focus on the music and open up their minds are amazing. We’re living in the time when it’s rare to be able to focus and get away from everything. We get as much out of it as they do. (As a result) a lot of students become our fans or get excited about the music."

Considering the success of the Ahn Trio engagement, does Sherhofer think there will be more opportunities to develop a younger audience for chamber music in the Greater Washington community? "I hope so," he said. "It’s going to have to be something that’s strategically followed up in a variety of ways. This performance isn’t going to significantly change things, although it is something we are going to have to continue to do. The Ahns made it easy with their marketing materials and personality. There aren’t too many classical groups who have that. There are different ways to approach that, so we have to continually work with middle schools. It has to be a priority of a variety of people who are involved in programming on campus."

Programs such as ArtsCONNECT, supported by the National Endowment for the Arts Regional Touring Program are of great benefit to artists as well as communities. According to Joanne Rile, "This program helps develop careers because it allows the artist to develop their artistry with many opportunities to perform and tour in communities other than their own. ."

The Ahn’s future projects include a tour with the David Parsons Dance Company. Parsons is choreographing pieces with the trio, who will perform onstage with the company of dancers. "They’re mixing mediums, spreading the music to different audiences and doing so brilliantly, " said Rile. "We are losing the means to expose the music, " she lamented. "Classical music stations are dwindling and record companies are in trouble. The Ahns are Julliard graduates, fine, intelligent, talented musicians who say, ‘We are going to make a difference and keep beautiful music by our living composers alive. Before we leave this earth we will have made that contribution.’ "

The Ahn Trio: www.ahntrio.com

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