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Jonathan Berger, composer of the Gryphon Trio music, working in his office. #gallery http://daily.stanford.edu/image/full/6664
Haley Kingsland

Jonathan Berger, composer of the Gryphon Trio music, working in his office.

The Juno Award-winning Gryphon Trio chamber ensemble will make its Stanford debut tonight at 8 p.m. The event, which is sponsored by Stanford Lively Arts, will be in Dinkelspiel Auditorium. The Trio will be performing Haydn’s Trio No.43 in C Major and Schubert’s Trio No.1 in B-Flat Major, along with the U.S. premiere of Tears in Your Hand, which is the work of composer and Associate Music Professor Jonathan Berger. The presentation will culminate in a discussion with the Trio members, moderated by Lively Arts’ Associate Director Michelle Witt.

Berger derived inspiration for both the title of Tears in Your Hand and its lyrical and melodical characteristics from the Yiddish song Unter Dyne Vyse Shetern (Under the White Stars) by Abraham Sutsever.

“Although never explicitly quoted, ghostly and distorted fragments of the melody are woven through the piece shadowing and blurring the musical gestures,” Berger told Lively Arts.

Gryphon Trio commissioned the piece in 2006.

Lively Arts Executive Director Jenny Bilfield said she sees this performance as an excellent opportunity to showcase the work of a member of the Stanford community in conjunction with the abilities of an acclaimed chamber ensemble.

The Gryphon Trio is based in Toronto and has been touring internationally since 1993. It has been described as “one of the best ensembles of its kind in the world” by the Toronto-based newspaper Globe and Mail. The ensemble is named for the mythological creature with an eagle’s head and wings and a lion’s body, and the trio consists of Annalee Patipatanakoon on violin, Jamie Parker on piano and Roman Borys on cello. It is known for its innovative interpretations of both classic and contemporary works and for various community outreach initiatives.

Currently, the trio is affiliated with the Analekta record label and its recordings are interpretations of the work of various classic composers, in addition to contemporary Canadian composers. It has served as Ensemble in Residence for the Toronto Chamber Music series since 1998. More information about the group is available at gryphontrio.com.

Stanford’s Jonathan Berger is a prolific composer. He has composed symphonic works, three concerti and other works for various chamber ensembles, vocal, choral and electro-acoustic groups. His musical creations have been featured on Centaur, Neuma, CRI and Harmonia Mundi record labels.

Berger regularly collaborates with Stanford’s Ensemble in Residence, the St. Lawrence String Quartet. His latest recordings, which are chamber music for strings, will be available this spring on Naxos recordings. Berger’s millennium exhibition, Echoes of Light and Time, was featured in the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA) concert and received international praise. He has won three fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and awards from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP).

Tickets for the performance are no longer available online but can be obtained by calling (650) 725-ARTS or going to the Stanford Ticket Office in Tresidder. The post-performance discussion is free to the public.