This year, Pyxis Piano Trio marks their 14th season as our classical ensemble in residence! Exploring the rich piano trio repertoire, these fine musicians return in December as part of our popular Winter Festival and again in February for more music inspired by visual art. Join us!
December 8, 2022, Curator talk at 7:30 pm, Concert begins at 8 pm
Inspired by the Museum’s groundbreaking exhibition A Marriage of Arts & Crafts: Evelyn & William De Morgan, the trio will play three works by another highly lauded husband-and-wife team, the Schumanns. The evening will include Robert’s Phantasiestücke for Piano Trio (Op. 88) and Clara’s Three Romances for Violin and Piano (Op. 22). This joyous salute to the holidays also features seasonal offerings, ranging from a traditional carol to popular mid-20th century Hollywood holiday classics: Baby it’s cold outside, I’ll be home for Christmas; We wish you a merry Christmas; White Christmas, and Winter Wonderland. Buy tickets.
February 16, 2023, Curator talk at 7 pm, Concert begins at 7:30 pm
This concert continues Pyxis’ conversation with the De Morgans. The couple consistently worked to stretch the boundaries of both social and artistic expectations, so to celebrate this groundbreaking exhibition as it concludes its successful run, the ensemble will play works that also defied expectations. The evening includes Gustav Holst’s In the Bleak Midwinter; selections from an unusual Sonata for Violin and Cello by Maurice Ravel; and Antonín Dvořák’s magnificent “Dumky” piano trio. Dvořák was immensely celebrated in London, and it’s likely that the De Morgans would have heard his concerts. Buy tickets.
Pyxis Piano Trio
Formed in 2021 by members of the Pyxis Piano Quartet, the Pyxis Piano Trio continues to perform chamber music works from the sonata, duo, and trio repertoire. Founded in 2009 as the Museum’s classical ensemble in residence, the Quartet became a vibrant presence in the mid-Atlantic region, known for its compelling, engaging, and informative performances. Pyxis has been heard to great acclaim along the East Coast in concerts from Virginia to Pennsylvania. Beginning their second decade, they remain Wilmington (DE) artists in residence at both the Delaware Art Museum and Market Street Music’s Festival Concerts. The trio appears in the Mallery Concerts series at Rutgers University (Camden NJ) in October 2022 and plays frequently in the Philadelphia-based regional concert series Artcinia.
Other notable performances include Delaware Symphony’s Champagne Chamber Series (Hotel DuPont Gold Ballroom), Concerts on the Square (Holy Trinity Church Rittenhouse/Philadelphia), and recitals as featured artists at Delaware Chamber Music Festival and Villanova University, as well as return engagements at the German Society of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia), the Newark (DE) Free Library, “Celebrate the Arts” series in Doylestown (PA), Kent Chamber Music Series (MD), Saint Monica’s Church (Berwyn PA), Smyrna Opera House, as well as appearances at Havre de Grace Opera House (MD) and the Annie M. Gaul Concert Series (Wernersville PA).
Pyxis has collaborated with composers including Ingrid Arauco, Chuck Holdeman, and David Schelat. They also delight in working with esteemed musical guests, including faculty members from University of Delaware, James Madison University, Pennsylvania’s School of the Arts, College of New Jersey and members of the Philadelphia Orchestra, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Ballet Orchestra, the Delaware and Arkansas Symphonies, Relache Ensemble, Serafin String Quartet, and Copeland String Quartet.
As private instructors and sought-after coaches, have a significant impact on their community. The group takes its name from the Pyxis constellation, also known as the Mariners’ Compass, whose symbol is the compass rose. The points of the compass rose represent the new artistic directions that the group strives to take together while recognizing the different backgrounds and experiences of its musicians.
Luigi Mazzocchi (violin) was born in Venezuela and studied music in “El Sistema.” He has performed as a soloist with all the leading Venezuelan symphony orchestras and has participated in international music festivals in the United States, Panama, Puerto Rico, Spain, France, and Australia. He is also a prizewinner in numerous solo competitions, including the Del Castillo Latin American Competition; South Orange Symphony Artist Competition (1997); FOSIA Solo Competition in Puerto Rico (1999), where he performed as a soloist at the Casals Festival; and the Temple University Concerto Competition (2000). Currently, Luigi serves as concertmaster of the Philadelphia Ballet Orchestra, Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra, and Ocean City Pops. He is also associate concertmaster of the Delaware Symphony and acting concertmaster of the Lancaster Symphony Orchestra. An extremely active chamber musician, Luigi is also a member of Opera Philadelphia, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Philly Pops, West Jersey Chamber Orchestra, Pyxis Piano Trio, and Camerata Philadelphia. He has served as a substitute violinist and teaching artist for the Philadelphia Orchestra and has performed with Orchestra 2001, the Philadelphia Classical Symphony, the Serafin and Dalí String Quartets, the Pagode Project, and Alô Brasil. Luigi holds a Bachelor of Music from Rowan University and Master of Music from Temple University. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife and two children.
Jennifer Jie Jin (cello) has performed in music capitals in North America, Europe, and Asia. She has played with the Cleveland Orchestra and the Boston Symphony, Houston Symphony, New World Symphony, the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia and has been invited to music festivals in the United States including Aspen, Tanglewood, Ravinia, National Repertory Orchestra, Taos as well as international festivals in Europe. An active chamber musician, Jie is the founder of the Tang-gu-la String Quartet, which toured worldwide and received numerous honors, winning Second Prize in the First National String Quartet Competition. Shortly after receiving that award, the quartet appeared in Isaac Stern’s Oscar-winning documentary “From Mao to Mozart” and performed for President Bill Clinton at the White House. Currently, she is the cellist of Pyxis Piano Trio and Copeland String Quartet and a member of Delaware Symphony. Jie was also a member of Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, Harrisburg Symphony, and Colorado Music Festival Orchestra and Principal Cello of Bay Atlantic Symphony. Passionate about music education, Jie is the Director of the Pennsylvania Youth Orchestra and Chamber Strings Music Camp. In 2016 she received the prestigious Ovation Award for inspiration and outstanding leadership in music education presented annually by the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra. Jie is a graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Music, Rice University, and Shanghai Conservatory of Music. www.jenniferjiejin.com
Hiroko Yamazaki (piano) has performed in America and Rome (Italy), Helsinki and Imatra (Finland), and Lausanne (Switzerland), collaborating with instrumentalists and vocalists including members of Tonhalle Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Delaware Symphony, Arkansas Symphony, and Copeland String Quartet at venues such as the Smithsonian Institution, Kennedy Center, Swarthmore College, Rutgers College, Aspen Music Festival, Marcella Sembrich Opera Museum, and in New York City and Puerto Rico. Most recently, Hiroko performed with Lewes Chambers Players featuring Chris Coletti, former trumpeter of Canadian Brass. Summer festivals include Aspen, Rome, Luzerne, Serafin, and the International Festival-Institute at Round Top, Texas, where her performance with Minnesota Orchestra principal oboist Basil Reeve was recorded for NPR. She appeared as soloist with the Wilmington Community Orchestra and orchestral pianist on numerous occasions with Delaware Symphony and Northeast Pennsylvania Philharmonic. Extensive teaching experience includes private lessons, class piano, and chamber music coaching. She was University of Delaware adjunct faculty and taught at the Darlington Fine Arts Center and St. Andrew’s School. An Aspen Fellow, she was named Accompanying Coordinator and Teaching Assistant to Rita Sloan, Director of Collaborative Arts. Currently, she is Associate Head of the Piano Department and Master Piano Faculty with Distinction at The Music School of Delaware and on the faculty of their Summer Piano Institute. Hiroko won the Austrian American Society Scholarship Competition, which sponsored her summer studies at the Mozarteum (Salzburg, Austria). A student of Rita Sloan, she holds a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance and Master of Music in Collaborative Piano from the University of Maryland, where she was a scholarship student, received the Presser Foundation and Collaborative Piano Awards, and was initiated into Pi Kappa Lambda.
Gail Obenreder O’Donnell (producer) has worked with Pyxis since the group’s founding in 2009. In a wide-ranging arts career, Gail has been an administrator in multiple disciplines and produced events, concerts, programs, television, and theatre independently and for organizations in Washington DC, New York City, Atlanta (renovating The Rialto Theatre), Seattle, southeastern Pennsylvania, and Wilmington, Delaware (where she lives). She was a founding member of Market Street Music and the Delaware Arts Alliance. An arts consultant and choral musician, Gail crafts the Artist Fellows profiles for the Delaware Division of the Arts; writes critically for the Philadelphia online journal Broad Street Review; and was a 2016 Fellow of the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s National Critics Institute.