TRIO ZIMBALIST

Josef Špaček, violin
Timotheos Gavriilidis-Petrin, cello
George Xiaoyuan Fu, piano

Trio Zimbalist has garnered critical acclaim for its “precision and feverish intensity” (Greece’s EfSyn). The group was lauded for its “liveliness and vigor of playing” and performances that were “pure enjoyment!” (Athinorama) at the Nights of Classical Music at the Gennadius Library festival in Athens, where it served as ensemble in residence in 2021. Members of the trio—violinist Josef Špaček, cellist Timotheos GavriilidisPetrin, and pianist George Xiaoyuan Fu—are all distinguished alumni of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. In demand across Europe and the U.S. as soloists, chamber musicians, and recitalists, they form an inimitable ensemble with repertoire spanning Romantic masterworks to today’s most lauded composers.

Trio Zimbalist’s 2022-23 season engagements included U.S. appearances in Phoenix, Philadelphia, and Palm Beach, and European appearances in Athens, Bremen, Munich, London, and Paris. The group also performed Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with the Greensboro Symphony and conductor Dmitry Sitkovetsky. The trio’s 2023-24 season includes performances at the 92nd Street Y in New York City, the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., and the Friends of Chamber Music in Miami. The ensemble’s debut album, featuring music of Lera Auerbach, Mieczysław Weinberg, and Dvořák, will be released in January 2024 on the Curtis Studio label.

The trio takes its name from famed violin virtuoso Efrem Zimbalist, a towering presence at the Curtis Institute of Music as faculty and director for a combined forty years. Trio Zimbalist carries on the violinist’s storied legacy through its commitment to artistic excellence. The group draws upon the lineage of previous world-class ensembles formed at Curtis. Its members have studied with faculty representing the Guarneri Quartet, the Beaux Arts Trio, and the Chicago Chamber Musicians.