The Janaki String Trio:
Serena McKinney, Violin
Katie Kadarauch, Viola
Arnold Choi, Cello

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).  The BMI Foundation Commissioning Prize from the CAG Competition brought the ensemble another new work from American composer Dan Visconti, whose world premiere they performed in New York in May of 2008.  California’s South Bay Chamber Music Society has honored the Trio with the organization’s first commission, from American composer Pierre Jalbert which was premiered in Fall 2008.  Other current concert engagements include performances at The Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, the Music Guild of Los Angeles, Chamber Music Society of Little Rock and the University of Calgary.

In 2007-08, the Trio made appearances in New York on Schneider Concerts and the CAG/New Works at the Thalia Series, and also performed at Los Angeles’ Coleman Chamber Music Series, San Francisco’s Music at Meyer, Chautauqua Institution, the Mendocino Music Festival and Music Mountain, where the ensemble collaborated with pianist Alpin Hong in a performance of Brahms G minor Piano Quartet.  Other recent engagements include 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.

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.

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 (ZHAN-uh-kee).which symbolizes self-realization — the underpinning artistic and spiritual ideal entwining composer, musician and listener.