Meet the Rodion Trio:

Diederik Ornée, clarinet
Annelies Vrieswijk, saxophone
Mark Toxopeus, piano

Clarinet, saxophone, piano.

A very unexpected and unique combination of instruments. At first glance this may seem a restriction, because there is hardly any original music written for this particular combination. However, it is due to this lack of original repertoire that the members of the Rodion Trio are forced to create their own arrangements, which in turn opens up a whole world of opportunities…

In performing these arrangements, two distinctive goals of the Rodion Trio become clear.

Firstly, adapting pieces enables the musicians to re-interpret (well-known) classical pieces and to present these pieces in a completely new form. He or she who associates Vivaldi’s Four Seasons with strings and solo violin, will be surprised and impressed by Rodion Trio’s version which stays true to the music but shows Vivaldi’s masterpiece in a wide variety of unusual colours and sounds. Likewise, you have probably never heard Janacek’s piano music or Guillaume de Machaut’s French medieval songs in this combination of wind instruments and piano…

Secondly, the Rodion Trio centers the pieces on their programmes around a single theme. In doing that, pieces can be placed next to each other that would normally, due to their difference in instrumental requirements, never be put together in a single concert. To give an example: in their programme called ‘Crime and Punishment’, the Rodion Trio combines a symphonic overture with a piano solo piece, an aria for voice and orchestra and parts of an opera. The explanation and background information that the musicians give during their concerts glue these different pieces together into an organic musical body. A unique experience for any listener!

Amongst others, also the jury members of the Almere International Chamber Music Competition 2013 think highly of the Trio’s arrangements and their flawless execution: they awarded the Rodion Trio the first prize.

A few comments by listeners:

<Extremely professional, catching and inspiring>

<Such great arrangements full of fantasy, such enthusiasm, such communication!>