Calgary Pro Musica

Join us for the SPA Trio's Calgary Pro Musica debut on Sunday, October 18, 2026 at 7 PM.

Music by Mendelssohn, Schumann, Brahms, Amy Beach, Gershwin and a selection of Americana songs from the early 20th-century

Ticket at calgarypromusica.ca
Adults: $49
Seniors/Under 30: $39

Historic recordings of some of the great singers of yesteryear include numerous performances of salon-type songs with an obbligato instrument. This tradition continues with SPA Trio. These stellar artists first performed together in 2011 in Curaçao, in the Netherlands Antilles, and have enjoyed exploring and performing a blend of art and parlour songs from the 19th- and 20th-century European tradition. Soprano Susanna Phillips continues to establish herself as one of today’s most sought-after vocalists and recitalists. Violist Paul Neubauer’s exceptional musicality and effortless playing led The New York Times to call him “a master musician.” Pianist Anne-Marie McDermott is a consummate artist who balances a versatile career as a soloist and collaborator.

We are pleased that the Calgary Herald once again featured our Gryphon Trio concerts in their Music Section: "Gryphon Trio continues standard of excellence for Calgary Pro Musica anniversary season."

Please read the review here:
https://calgaryherald.com/entertainment/music/review-gryphon-trio-continues-standard-of-excellence-for-calgary-pro-music-anniversary-season

Check out the Calgary Herald review from the 's previous visit in 2023: https://calgaryherald.com/entertainment/music/review-gryphon-trio-makes-provides-triumphant-overview-of-30-year-career-with-calgary-concert.

Bravo to the Gryphon Trio for opening our 50th anniversary subscription season with two programs on Sunday and Monday that explored both the classical roots and extraordinary range of the piano trio repertoire.

The contrast between Beethoven’s first published piano trio, Op. 1, No. 1, which opened Sunday’s concert, and the great Archduke Trio, which concluded Monday’s concert, was especially striking. The youthful Op. 1, No. 1 (1795) charms with its buoyant melodies and transparent textures, giving each instrument room to shine, whereas the Archduke (completed in 1811) unfolds on a much grander scale, with greater harmonic richness, structural complexity, and an extraordinary breadth of expression.
Carmen Braden's Candle Ice combines the trio with field recordings of the crystalline shards of “candle ice” from Great Slave Lake jostling in the water as the lake begins to thaw. Braden draws rhythms, pitches and elements of the work’s structure from the sounds of the ice itself, blurring the boundary between music and nature. The dramatic sweep of Dvořák’s Piano Trio No. 3 brought Sunday’s concert to a rousing conclusion.

Monday evening revealed another remarkable quality of the Gryphon Trio: their ability to move effortlessly between very different musical worlds, from the elegance and clarity of Haydn to Christos Hatzis’s Old Photographs, which itself travels from introspective Romanticism to Piazzolla-inflected tango, before concluding with the breadth and grandeur of Beethoven’s Archduke Trio.

It felt like a homecoming for the trio, as it is their fourth appearance on our series. Annalee grew up in Calgary, and she and the trio had family and friends in the audience.

It was also fitting for CPM to open its subscription season with a piano trio. The series was founded by cellist Talmon Hertz, and early concerts featured his Hertz Bartlett Trio which featured violinist Yaëla Hertz and pianist Dale Bartlett.

Thanks to Annalee Patipatanakoon for her private coachings with violin students including Aedan Lowry. He and the Aurelia Trio, which was coached by Roman Borys, are members of our Dick Matthews Young Artist Development Program. Thanks to Jamie Parker for his masterclass featuring piano students from the University of Calgary's School of Creative and Performing Arts.

Did you hear that it’s our 50th anniversary season? We are thrilled to reach this milestone of 50 years of listening together because of you: our community of curious and engaged listeners.

Thanks to our Board of Directors for the Purdy’s chocolates and little notes to kick off our subscription season last Sunday and Monday with the magnificent Gryphon Trio.

Thanks to our longtime subscriber and supporter Marion Jones for sewing a beautiful tablecloth listing outstanding ensembles and memorable moments throughout our history

Our guest musicians have enjoyed looking at our 50th season timeline and banner designed by our amazing graphic designer Platform Projects. Both James Ehnes and Jamie Parker found themselves on the timeline. (The Gryphon Trio’s CPM premiere was in 1996, and James came with his Ehnes Quartet in 2025).

We look forward to welcoming you during our remaining 14 concerts this season.

Please note the correct date for this masterclass is TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29 from 10:30am - 12pm in the Eckhardt-Gramatté Hall. This masterclass is free and open to the public.

We are excited to announce CPM's first masterclass of our 50th season with Jamie Parker.

Catch pianist Jamie Parker with the Gryphon Trio on Sunday and Monday nights in our opening Masters Series concerts of our 50th season. The Trio will play two separate programs:

Sunday, September 27 at 7 PM
Beethoven: Trio in E-flat Major, Op. 1, No. 1
Carmen Braden: Candle Ice
Dvorak: Trio No. 3 in F Minor, Op. 65

Monday, September 28 at 7:30 PM
Haydn: Trio in A major, Hob. XV: 18
Christos Hatzis: Old Photographs
Beethoven: Trio in B-flat Major, Op. 97 “Archduke”

Students can purchase $5 rush tickets at the Rozsa Centre Box Office up to an hour before each concert.

Adults and Seniors/Under 30 can purchase tickets at calgarypromusica.ca. Adults: $49 I Seniors/Under 30: $39

Hey Music Students & All Students, Your concert ticket is $5.
Gryphon Trio · Sunday 7 PM · Monday 7:30 PM

Come to the Rozsa Centre Box Office up to an hour before each concert begins, and purchase your $5 ticket (with valid student ID). If a student is under 18, one accompanying adult is eligible to buy a $20 rush ticket.

Take a study break, meet up with friends, and hear one of Canada’s leading chamber ensembles live at the Eckhardt-Gramatté Hall.
For just $5, your night can include:�
• A Sunday night reset or Monday night study break or both!�
• Incredible live music in an intimate concert hall�
• A free pre-concert talk, beginning 45 minutes before the concert�
• A free post-concert reception with refreshments�
• The chance to meet the musicians after the performance

Come on your own or bring some friends. You don’t need to know anything about chamber music. Just come listen.

Sunday’s program:
Beethoven: Trio in E-flat Major, Op. 1, No. 1
Carmen Braden: Candle Ice
Dvorak: Trio No. 3 in F Minor, Op. 65

Monday’s program: �
Haydn: Trio in A major, Hob. XV: 18
Christos Hatzis: Old Photographs
Beethoven: Trio in B-flat Major, Op. 97 “Archduke”

Join us for a celebratory season of Canadian and international chamber ensembles featuring the Gryphon Trio, SPA Trio, Banff International String Quartet Competition winners Poiesis Quartet with Honens Laureate Anastasia Vorotnaya, The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Attacca Quartet with Caroline Shaw, the Quartetto di Cremona, Galvin Cello Quartet, and the New Orford String Quartet.

We are pleased to once again offer members of the Calgary Musicians Association $15 rush tickets to all Calgary Pro Musica’s 13 evening subscription concerts during our 50th season, pending availability.

Come to the Rozsa Centre Box Office up to an hour before each concert begins, and purchase your $15 ticket.
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Please encourage your music students to attend our concerts as well! We offer a remarkable $5 rush ticket to any student. University and graduate students must show a current student ID. If a student is under 18, we offer one $20 accompanying adult rush ticket. (Please note that our policy is one adult rush ticket per family).

Gryphon Trio’s Sunday program:
Beethoven: Trio in E-flat Major, Op. 1, No. 1
Carmen Braden: Candle Ice
Dvořák: Trio No. 3 in F Minor, Op. 65

Gryphon Trio’s Monday program: �
Haydn: Trio in A major, Hob. XV: 18
Christos Hatzis: Old Photographs
Beethoven: Trio in B-flat Major, Op. 97 “Archduke”

Join us for a celebratory season of Canadian and international chamber ensembles featuring the Gryphon Trio, SPA Trio, Banff International String Quartet Competition winners Poiesis Quartet with Honens Laureate Anastasia Vorotnaya, The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Attacca Quartet with Caroline Shaw, the Quartetto di Cremona, Galvin Cello Quartet, and the New Orford String Quartet.

The Gryphon Trio returns this Sunday and Monday for its fourth appearance with Calgary Pro Musica and will perform two completely different programs over two evenings.

Purchase tickets at calgarypromusica.ca
Seniors/Under 30: $39 | Adults: $49

Sunday, September 27 at 7 PM
Pre-concert talk at 6:15 PM

Beethoven: Trio in E-flat Major, Op. 1, No. 1
Carmen Braden: Candle Ice
Dvořák: Trio No. 3 in F Minor, Op. 65

Monday, September 28 at 7:30 PM
Pre-concert talk at 6:45 PM

Haydn: Trio in A Major, Hob. XV:18
Christos Hatzis: Old Photographs
Beethoven: Trio in B-flat Major, Op. 97, “Archduke”

HEAR BOTH PROGRAMS & SAVE 20% ON YOUR SECOND NIGHT

Already have a ticket for Sunday or Monday? Join us for the second Gryphon Trio concert and save 20%. Contact Kate at [email protected] or call/text 403-244-8277.

Second-night tickets are $31.20 for seniors/under 30 and $39.20 for adults.





Carmen Braden

Saturday night’s sold-out recital with James Ehnes and Andrew Armstrong was a truly special opening to Calgary Pro Musica’s 50th anniversary season.

Celebrating his own 50th birthday, James shared stories from his musical childhood, his early teachers, and the pieces that shaped him as a young violinist, reflecting on the role each work has played in his life and career. His program with longtime recital collaborator, the wonderful pianist Andy Armstrong, was rich in colour, variety, and virtuosity.

Their performance of Brahms’ Sonata No. 3, the first of Brahms’ violin sonatas James learned as a boy, was so compelling that our audience bought more than 60 copies of the duo’s Brahms sonata recordings after the concert.

We also loved Carmen Braden’s evocative Imaginal, commissioned for James’ 50th birthday Canadian tour with Calgary Pro Musica among the commissioning partners. We look forward to hearing another of Carmen’s works next week with the Gryphon Trio.

From Sinding, Brahms, Braden, and Bartók to the dazzling virtuosity of Wieniawski’s Scherzo-Tarantelle and Moritz Moszkowski’s Guitarre, the evening offered an extraordinary range of colours and characters. James’ effortless playing was moving, richly expressive, and at times almost impossibly fast.

Our audience also had the privilege of getting to know James beyond the stage. He generously stayed after the recital to autograph CDs and music books and speak with the many audience members lined up to meet him.

Happy 50th birthday, James Ehnes, and thank you to James and Andy Armstrong for an evening of music, stories, and pure delight.

We are excited to share information about upcoming concerts in Calgary and Banff featuring three of CPM’s Dick Matthews Young Artist Development Program alumni. Cellist Andrew Tai-Soon Park is a three-time alumnus, having been a member of YADP in 2016-17, 2017-18 as part of the Walden Trio and in 2019-20. Violist Tilman Sandvoss participated between 2018 and 2020; pianist Nikolai Nesterov participated between 2020 and 2022.

This 5th anniversary concert of Peaks + Prairies also features violinists Solana Freehold and Lev Nesterov. The Calgary concert takes place at the Mamdani Opera Centre (1315 7 St SW) on Saturday, June 27th from 2 PM to 4 PM. The Banff concert will be held at St George in the Pines Anglican Church (100 Beaver Street) on Sunday, June 28th from 2 PM to 4 PM. Purchase tickets online at https://www.tickettailor.com/events/peaksprairies. Tickets are $30 with student rush tickets available at the door for $15. Kids under 12 are free. We hope to see you there!
For more information, visit https://www.peaksandprairies.org/5th-anniversary-concerts
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Peaks + Prairies Productions