Chai Jie Low

##### Three instruments. Two 19th century piano trio masterpieces by Dvořák and Mendelssohn. Named after Nicolas-Jaques Conté, inventor of the modern pencil and Conté crayons, Trio Conté’s **Rollin Zhao** (violin), **Joshua Dema** (cello) and **Chai Jie Low** (piano) explore the vibrant sound worlds of two iconic Romantic composers working at the height of their mastery of the piano trio repertoire. Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio No. 2 in C minor, Op.66 opens with restless, turbulent energy and only finds resolution in the finale, where a hidden chorale, drawn from Bach’s chorale 'Herr Gott, dich loben alle wir', returns in the coda to bring the work to a joyous close. Dvořák's Piano Trio No. 3 in F minor, Op.65, written weeks after his mother's death, begins with an unsettling musical question mark. Its Czech-inflected furiant, and wistful slow movement circle back in the triumphant finale, which recalls the work's opening argument in radiant light.