Events /
Friday, September 19, 2025 & Saturday, September 20, 2025

Austin Chamber Music Center: Trio Sponte

By KMFA 89.5, Staff Submission.

About

AUSTIN CHAMBER MUSIC CENTER PRESENTS

TRIO SPONTE

SEPTEMBER 19 & 20 | 7:30 P.M. | 2 LOCATIONS

The Grand Prize winners of the 2024 Coltman Chamber Music Competition, Trio Sponte, return to dazzle Austin audiences. Together, they prove how well a piano trio serves as a vessel for personal expression and national identity: Beethoven’s Piano Trio Op. 1 No. 1 marks the turn of the century and a new era of music, and Ives’s Piano Trio shatters tradition 100 years later. Robert Schumann’s Piano Trio No. 1 connects the two with passionate Romanticism and introspection.

Austin Chamber Music Center’s Friday Night Season Concerts are an up-close-and-personal setting for chamber music at the beautiful Draylen Mason Music Studio at KMFA. Friday night tickets include complimentary drinks and light bites served at a post-concert reception with the artists.

Saturday Night Season Concerts run in tandem with Fridays and take place at the First Unitarian Church; tickets include a post-concert reception that includes appetizers and drinks, as well as a Q&A session with the artists. Subject to availability, $12 Student Rush (with student ID), $33 General Admission, and $48 Premium tickets may be purchased at the box office starting at 6:30 PM on the evening of the Saturday night concert.

Program

Piano Trio in E-flat Major, Op. 1, No. 1 | Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827)

  • Allegro
  • Adagio cantabile
  • Scherzo. Allegro assai
  • Finale. Presto

Piano Trio | Charles Ives (1874–1954)

  • Moderato
  • TSIAJ (“This scherzo is a joke”). Presto
  • Moderato con moto

INTERMISSION

Piano Trio No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 63 | Robert Schumann (1810–1856)

  • Mit Energie und Leidenschaft
  • Lebhaft, doch nicht zu rasch
  • Langsam, mit inniger Empfindung
  • Mit Feuer

TRIO SPONTE Nick Hammel, violin | Stephanie Yang, cello | Charles Berofsky, piano

Trio Sponte

Trio Sponte is a dynamic ensemble comprised of graduates of the New England Conservatory in Boston. Violinist Nick Hammel, cellist Yi-I Stephanie Yang, and pianist Charles Berofsky started playing together at the Taos School of Music during the summer of 2023 and, drawn to each other’s artistry and passion for music, decided to start playing together as a professional ensemble.

As winners of the Grand Prize at the 2024 Coltman Chamber Music Competition (Senior Division), Trio Sponte is thrilled to be featured on the Austin Chamber Music Series this season. Each of the trio’s members are experienced chamber musicians as well as soloists, having won prizes at various competitions and appeared with renowned artists and ensembles.

Run time: This concert is approximately 84 minutes, plus one short intermission.

 

LEARN MORE!

 

7:30 PM; Friday, September 19, 2025

KMFA'S Draylen Mason Music Studio

41 Navasota Street Austin, TX 78702

Friday Tickets

($25 – $80)

 

7:30 PM; Saturday, September 20, 2025

First Unitarian Church

4700 Grover Ave Austin, TX 78756

Saturday Tickets

($12 – $48)

Event Details

Ticket Information

  • Cost: $12.00 – $80.00

Presenter Details

  • Name: Austin Chamber Music Center

    • The Austin Chamber Music Center creates chamber music experiences that connect, educate, and inspire our community.

    ACMC seeks to:

    • Develop the next generation of musicians and audiences.

    • Make chamber music accessible to everyone.

    • Provide audiences with a wide range of chamber music experiences.

    • Provide an avenue for professional musicians to interact with each other and to communicate their enthusiasm for chamber music to students and audiences through paid teaching and performance opportunities.

    • Develop and expand the chamber music repertoire, including the commissioning of new works, study, and recording of less familiar repertoire.

    • Instill lifelong skills of leadership and cooperation through music education.

    • Connect people of all backgrounds through music and music-making.

     

    • Diversity We should reflect and respond to the diversity of our community.

    • Equity We do not prevent anyone from participating in our programs due to financial or other burdens.

    • Inclusion All are welcome in our programs regardless of gender, race/ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, disability, age, or citizenship status.