Janaki String Trio

Serena McKinney, violin
Katie Kadarauch, viola
Arnold Choi, cello

Winner, 2006 CAG Competition

• Grand Prize, 59th Coleman Chamber Music Competition

The Janaki String Trio, winner of the 2006 Concert Artists Guild International Competition, is the first ensemble of this type to capture the award in the nearly 60-year history of the Competition. The Trio’s New York debut on the CAG Series at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall was praised by The New York Times as “magnificently polished” and exhibiting “an irresistible electricity.”

This electricity produces an immediate connection with audiences. The Trio’s programs incorporate standard works of the repertory, rarely heard masterworks, such as Penderecki’s gripping String Trio and stellar new pieces by composers such as Andrew Norman (2006 winner of the Rome Prize). California’s South Bay Chamber Music Society has honored the Trio with the organization’s first commission, from American composer Pierre Jalbert, and The BMI Foundation Commissioning Prize from the CAG Competition brings the ensemble another new work.

The Janaki String Trio’s 2006 debut CD (Yarlung Records; works by Beethoven, Penderecki and Jason Barabba) has received remarkable acclaim. The New York Times praised the Beethoven performance for its “sharply chiseled accents and a broad dynamic sweep.” The New Yorker commented on the “fresh and bracing character of the performance.” The ensemble’s second release (Naxos; February 2007) is a disc of the Vanhal Flute Quartets with flutist Uwe Grodd.

The Janaki String Trio’s 2007-08 season features New York appearances on Schneider Concerts and the CAG/New Works at the Thalia Series. On the west coast, the Trio performs for Los Angeles’ Coleman Chamber Music Series and San Francisco’s Music at Meyer. Summer engagements include the Chautauqua Institution, the Mendocino Music Festival and Music Mountain, where the ensemble collaborates with pianist Alpin Hong in a performance of Brahms G minor Piano Quartet. Recent highlights are an Australian tour with pianist Kathryn Selby, a residency at Canada’s Banff Centre and a partnership with the Da Camera Society of Los Angeles to bring music to elementary schools, hospitals, retirement communities and other community venues in the area.

Serena McKinney performs on a Nicolaus Gagliano violin (circa 1760) on loan to her from the Mandell Collection of Southern California; Katie Kadarauch performs on a Giovanni Grancino viola (circa 1695) on loan to her from the Mandell Collection of Southern California; and Arnold Choi performs on a Carlo Tononi cello (circa 1725) on loan to him from an Anonymous Donor.

The Janaki String Trio was founded at the Colburn School of Music in Los Angeles in early 2005 and won the 59th Annual Coleman Chamber Music Competition in the same year. The ensemble takes its name from the Sanskrit word Janaki (YAHN-uh-kye), which symbolizes self-realization — the underpinning artistic and spiritual ideal entwining composer, musician and listener.