Junction Trio
The 92nd Street Y, New York (92NY), one of New York’s leading cultural venues, presents Junction Trio with Stefan Jackiw, violin; Jay Campbell, cello; Conrad Tao, piano on Friday, November 1, 2024 at 7:30 pm ET on the David Geffen Stage at Kaufmann Concert Hall and streaming online. Tickets start at $25 and are available at https://www.92ny.org/event/junction-trio.
Individually, the members of chamber music supergroup Junction Trio have dazzled on our stage; this season they join us as a renowned trio. Their expansive program includes the darkly brilliant second piano trio by Shostakovich and the world premiere of a new work by John Zorn, concluding with a masterwork of the chamber music literature in the Brahms B Major Piano Trio, Op. 8 – a tour-de-force statement by three of today’s most exciting musicians, and one superb ensemble.
Three visionary artists combine internationally recognized talents in the eclectic ensemble Junction Trio. Since their formation in 2015, the Trio has performed at Washington Performing Arts, Royal Conservatory in Toronto, Newport Classical, the Aspen Music Festival and for the Los Angeles Philharmonic's NowRising Series. Known for their unique program combinations and vibrant performances, they bring a fresh approach to the repertoire, dazzling audiences with their virtuosity and unity. “Watching the trio perform, one really couldn’t tell who was happier to be there — the rapt audience or the musicians, who threw themselves into repertoire they clearly love...These three are onto something special” (Boston Globe).
In the 2024/2025 season, the Junction Trio make their debut at The 92nd Street Y, New York, performing trios by Shostakovich and Brahms as well as the world premiere of a new work by John Zorn. They also perform on the Peggy Rockefeller Series at New York’s Rockefeller University. The Trio made their Carnegie Hall debut last season with the New York premiere of Zorn’s Philosophical Investigations, performed alongside Ives’s Piano Trio and Beethoven’s “Archduke” Piano Trio.
Other recent highlights include the premiere of composer Amy Williams’s work Bells and Whistles at the Celebrity Series of Boston and Friends of Chamber Music Denver. Since their formation, the Junction Trio have appeared with the chamber music series of Tulsa, Pittsburgh, Albuquerque, and Detroit; Rockport Music Festival; The Phillips Collection in Washington, DC, People's Symphony Concerts in New York City; Cliburn Concerts; Shriver Hall; Duke Performances; Caramoor; Stanford Live!; and the La Jolla Music Society, among many others.
In 2021, the Junction Trio were selected by New York’s classical music radio station, WQXR, to be part of their inaugural Artist Propulsion Lab, which allowed them to engage collaborators, tap into new audiences through on-air curation opportunities, and commission works.
The New York Times has praised the individual musicians of the Junction Trio, comprising the “brilliant young violinist” Stefan Jackiw, the “electrifying” cellist Jay Campbell, and pianist and composer Conrad Tao, a musician of “probing intellect and open-hearted vision.” Together, writes the Boston Music Intelligencer, “This top-notch trio stands at the top of its game.”
Stefan Jackiw is one of America’s foremost violinists, captivating audiences with playing that combines poetry and purity with impeccable technique. Hailed for playing of “uncommon musical substance” that is “striking for its intelligence and sensitivity” (Boston Globe), Jackiw has appeared as a soloist with the Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, New York, Philadelphia, and San Francisco symphony orchestras, among others.
In the 2024/25 season, Stefan Jackiw's schedule is studded with performances in the United States, Europe, and Asia. These include concerto performances with the National Symphony Orchestra (Ireland), Suwon Philharmonic Orchestra (Korea), Erie Philharmonic, Jacksonville Symphony, Pasadena Symphony, and The Florida Orchestra.
Jackiw also enjoys collaborating with pianist Jeremy Denk with whom he has toured the complete Ives Violin Sonatas, which the pair recorded for future release on Nonesuch Records. In 2019, he recorded Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with Inon Barnatan, Alisa Weilerstein, Alan Gilbert and Academy St. Martin in the Fields.
Jackiw has performed in numerous major festivals and concert halls around the world, including the Aspen Music Festival, Ravinia Festival, Caramoor International Music Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, New York’s Mostly Mozart Festival, the Philharmonie de Paris, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, the Celebrity Series of Boston, and the Washington Performing Arts Society.
Born to physicist parents of Korean and Ukrainian descent, Stefan Jackiw began playing the violin at the age of four. His teachers have included Zinaida Gilels, Michèle Auclair, and Donald Weilerstein. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard University, as well as an Artist Diploma from the New England Conservatory, and is the recipient of a prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant. Jackiw plays a violin made in 1705 by Vincenzo Ruggieri. He lives in New York City. Learn more at stefanjackiw.com.
Jay Campbell is a cellist actively exploring a wide range of creative music. He has been recognized for approaching both old and new music with the same curiosity and commitment, and his performances have been called “electrifying” by the New York Times and “gentle, poignant, and deeply moving” by the Washington Post.
The only musician ever to receive two Avery Fisher Career Grants — in 2016 as a soloist, and again in 2019 as a member of the JACK Quartet — Jay made his concerto debut with the New York Philharmonic in 2013 and in 2016, he worked with Alan Gilbert as the artistic director for Ligeti Forward, part of the New York Philharmonic Biennale at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In 2017, he was Artist-in-Residence at the Lucerne Festival along with frequent collaborator violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja, where he gave the premiere of Luca Francesconi’s cello concerto Das Ding Singt. In 2018, he appeared at the Berlin Philharmonie with Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. He has recorded the concertos of George Perle and Marc-Andre Dalbavie with the Seattle Symphony, and in 2023/24, he premiered a new concerto, Reverdecer, by Andreia Pinto-Correia with the Gulbenkian Orchestra in Portugal, and in Brazil with the Orquestra Sinfonica do Estado de Sao Paulo. In 2022, he returned to the Los Angeles Philharmonic as curator and cellist for his second Green Umbrella concert, premiering two concertos by Wadada Leo Smith and inti figgis-vizueta.
Jay’s primary artistic interest is the collaboration with living creative musicians and has worked in this capacity with Catherine Lamb, John Luther Adams, Marcos Balter, Tyshawn Sorey, and many others. His close association with John Zorn resulted in two discs of new works for cello, Hen to Pan (2015) and Azoth (2020). Deeply committed as a chamber musician, he is the cellist of the JACK Quartet as well as the Junction Trio with violinist Stefan Jackiw and pianist Conrad Tao, and multidisciplinary collective AMOC. Learn more at jay-campbell.net.
Pianist and composer Conrad Tao has been dubbed “the kind of musician who is shaping the future of classical music” by New York Magazine, and an artist of “probing intellect and open-hearted vision” by The New York Times.
Conrad’s 2024/25 season includes a return to Carnegie Hall in recital performing Debussy’s 12 Études, alongside Keyed In, a work arranged and improvised by Tao on the Lumatone. He also returns to the San Francisco Symphony to perform Tchaikovsky with Nicholas Collon, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra to perform Mozart with Jaap van Zweden, the St Louis Symphony Orchesta to perform Saint-Saëns with David Danzmayr, and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra to perform Mozart with Jonathon Heyward. Further appearances include the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra’s opening Gala, as well as performances with the Seoul Philharmonic, and NDR Hannover with Ingo Metzmacher. He also continues his collaboration with award-winning dancer Caleb Teicher in a nationwide US tour.
In recent years, Conrad has been the subject of a special focus with the Finnish Radio Symphony and the Swedish Radio Symphony, both of whom have presented him over multiple concerts. He has also performed with the Orchestra Nazionale di Santa Cecilia under both Orozco-Estrada and Antonio Pappano. As a composer, his work has been performed by orchestras throughout the world; his first large scale orchestral work, Everything Must Go, received its world premiere with the New York Philharmonic and its European premiere with the Antwerp Symphony.
Conrad was the recipient of a New York Dance and Performance “Bessie” Award for Outstanding Sound Design / Music Composition for his work on More Forever, in collaboration with dancer and choreographer Caleb Teicher. He is also the recipient of the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant and was named a Gilmore Young Artist. Learn more at conradtao.com.
