Named for Beethoven’s famous work for piano trio, Ghost Trio is made up of Gabriela Glapska (piano), Ken Ichinose (cello) and Monique Lapins (violin).
The group was founded in 2019 for a recital project towards Gabriela’s PhD. They so enjoyed playing together that they decided to continue working as a trio.
All three had already established reputations as accomplished musicians.
They are now recognised as one of the most refreshing and enjoyable chamber groups in Aotearoa.
The trio has focused on exploring a new approach to the greatest music written for piano trio, as well as the discovery of lesser-known contemporary treasures of the piano trio repertoire.
The programme that they are bringing to Coronation Hall, Bannockburn, on Wednesday, 6 October will feature evocative works by living composers as well as mainstays by the Romanic masters and will include New Zealand compositions “At Water’s Birth” by Eve de Castro and “Time and Glue” by Josiah Carr.
The trio comes from diverse backgrounds.
Gabriela is a Polish-born pianist currently living and working in Wellington.
An active soloist and chamber musician with a strong interest in contemporary music, she has been the resident pianist for the annual Nelson Composers Workshops since 2017.
She also works with Wellington-based contemporary ensemble STROMA, and as an accompanist at the Te Koki New Zealand School of Music.
Monique is the second violinist of the New Zealand String Quartet. She has played around the world, including festivals in the UK, France, the Czech Republic, Holland, Japan, Hong Kong and her homeland Australia.
British cellist Ken Ichinose is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music in London. While there, he founded the Galitzin String Quartet and toured with it for ten years, in the UK, Germany, Holland, Portugal and France. He freelanced with the London Philharmonia, Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, before joining the NZSO as Associate Principal in 2014. The concert is presented by Cromwell and Districts Community Arts Council Inc, in association with Chamber Music New Zealand.
If you are wanting an evening of dazzling chamber music played in the spirit of joy and togetherness, tickets are available from artscentral.co.nz
