Three Frost School of Music faculty have created a groundbreaking new chamber music ensemble that debuts this Saturday as part of the Spring Chamber Music Festival.
The Solidaire Trio is the creation of cellist Jeffrey Zeigler, flutist Jennifer Grim, and percussionist Svetoslav Stoyanov, Frost professors and chamber music artists with stellar careers in contemporary music. The group is the newest ensemble-in-residence at the Frost School and is the first-ever ensemble for flute, cello, and percussion. They came together soon after Zeigler joined the Frost School in the fall of 2022.
“Musically, we speak a common language in how we think about new music, reinventing traditional ideas and bringing them into creative spaces,” says Zeigler, Assistant Professor of Chamber Music and Innovation. “We’re very much aligned.”
Following their Miami debut, the Solidaire Trio will perform in early May at National Sawdust in Brooklyn, New York, an internationally renowned, artist-led venue that fosters experimental new music and multi-disciplinary work, where Zeigler heads the in-house ensemble and record label. They will perform in San Francisco, and at Festival Napa Valley this summer.
The three artists bring an extraordinary range and depth of experience to their new effort. Zeigler spent eight years with the Kronos Quartet, the groundbreaking new music chamber group, and has performed and collaborated with a host of famous performers, cutting-edge composers, and ensembles. Grim, an Associate Professor, is the flutist with Zéphyros Winds, has performed widely with them and other groups, taught masterclasses at universities nationwide, and is a passionate advocate of diversity initiatives in classical music. Stoyanov, Director and Associate Professor of Percussion Studies, has commissioned multiple solo and chamber works as part of his passion for new music, as well as performing with major orchestras at leading venues.
“Jennifer, Svet, and I followed a path that encourages more individuality and interpersonal collaboration,” says Zeigler.
The trio’s repertoire will be new, of necessity since nothing has been written for this new configuration of flute, cello, and percussion. “There are so many possibilities,” says Zeigler. “It’s very exciting. There’s no repertoire—everything will be new.”
On Saturday, they’ll premiere their first commission, a new piece by Paola Prestini, artistic director of National Sawdust and Zeigler’s wife. Their initial performances will also include the trio’s own arrangements of Phillip Glass’s “Opening” and George Crumb’s “Vox Balaenae” (also known as “The Voice of the Whale”), with Stoyanov taking the prepared piano part – the first time a score by Crumb has been given a new arrangement. The exquisite acoustics at the Newman Recital Hall at the new Knight Center for Innovation will offer an ideal setting for these new sounds.
Zeigler hopes that Solidaire will not only expand the artistic possibilities of contemporary chamber music but also bring a new focus to the Frost School as a place that fosters initiative and creativity for classical music students beyond the traditional career path of seeking a job in an orchestra.
“One of the things I’ve been trying to create is a culture for chamber music and collaboration, which by definition fosters students’ individuality,” Zeigler says. “As we tour, we thought this group could be a flag the school could wave, a way for Frost to stand out.”
