Trio Confero
Maksim Shtrykov, clarinet
Anita Balázs, cello
Misuzu Tanaka, piano
TRIO CONFERO was founded in 2018 by clarinetist Maksim Shtrykov as a logical continuation of his quest to bring to the larger audience, the superb yet seldom performed chamber music repertoire for clarinet. The journey began in 2012 when, together with his partner Japanese pianist Misuzu Tanaka, they formed the Shtrykov-Tanaka Duo and began touring in the United States garnering an impressive record of instant re-engagements. With the addition of cellist Anita Balázs to the Duo, Trio Confero is comprised of three exceptionally talented musicians who are prizewinners of many international competitions and graduates of the world’s most prestigious music academies – The Juilliard School and Yale School of Music.
Confero is a Latin verb that means “to bring together, unite, and contribute”, and this is precisely what Trio Confero’s mission statement was set to be when the three musicians met. With remarkable works written by such giants of the past as Beethoven, Brahms, Bruch, Faure, Glinka as well as stellar composers of the 20th century and beyond such as Nino Rota, Robert Muczynski, John Ireland, Isang Yun and Magnus Lindberg, the possibilities of programming were endless.
The Trio has brought their passionate readings of the unique and vast repertoire to the Rochester Institute of Technology Performing Artist Series, Summer Stars Classical Series, Ponca City Concert Series, Los Gatos Community Concerts Association, Del Norte Curry Community Concert Association, and the Grand Montgomery Chamber Music Series to name a few. They will continue this season with concerts in France on the festival “Les Pianos Folies du Touquet” as well as a series of performances in Hungary including the opening concert of the 3rd International Cello Festival in the Kodály Conservatory of Törökszentmiklós and Nádor Hall in Budapest.
Maksim Shtrykov, clarinet
Belarusian-born American clarinetist Maksim Shtrykov [pronounced: sh-TRY-koff] is quickly gaining renown as an artist of remarkable charisma and extraordinary musicianship, and has been hailed for “clarity that’s viscerally breathtaking” and “effortless…quicksilver legato” (Lucid Culture, NYC). About his recent duo recital Shelter Island Reporter (NY) wrote: “[Duo] enchanted the audience with their technique and style and generated standing ovations from the sold-out crowd”
A recipient of the Artists International New York Debut Award, Maksim presented his Carnegie Hall debut recital at Weill Hall in 2007. A passionate advocate of clarinet music, he is on a continuous quest of expanding his instrument’s repertoire, bringing to light rarely performed masterpieces by forgotten masters.
In the past seasons, Maksim appeared with the Amadeus Festival Orchestra and gave numerous concerts around the country with appearances on the Chamber Music Society of Maryland, Summer Stars Classical Series (NJ), Parrish Art Museum Series (NY), Black Hills Chamber Music Society (SD), Cedarhurst Chamber Music (IL), Ridgecrest Chamber Music Society (CA), Rochester Institute of Technology Artist Series, Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts (IL), Shorter University’s Guest Artist Series (GA), and Summer Stars Classical Series (NJ) among many others.
Maksim is a prizewinner of many competitions including the Dmytro Bida International Woodwind Competition (Lviv, Ukraine), Brahms Chamber Music Competition (Gdansk, Poland), and “Salieri - Zinetti” International Chamber Music Competition (Verona, Italy).
Maksim Shtrykov began clarinet studies at the age of nine in his native Belarus. He later became the first Belarusian woodwind player to get accepted to the Juilliard School where he was awarded a degree of Master of Music as a scholarship student in the celebrated studio of Charles Neidich.
Anita Balázs, cello
Hungarian cellist, Anita Balázs, was born into a musical family and started her music studies at the age of 5. From early childhood, she has been giving concerts in Europe and taking part in international festivals and masterclasses in Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Italy, Croatia, France and Switzerland with professors such as Heidi Litschauer, László Fenyő, Philippe Muller and Wolfgang Boettcher. From the age of 12 she has been invited to play as soloist with famous Hungarian and European orchestras and conductors such as Andras Ligeti, Izaki Masahiro, Gábor Werner and Tamás Gál.
Her numerous prizes include First Prizes at the Antal Friss National Cello Competition, International Cello Competition in Liezen, Austria and János Starker National Cello Competition in Hungary; Second Prizes at Antonio Janigro International Cello Competition in Porec, Croatia and the Augustín Procházka International Cello Competition in Slovakia.
In 2016 Anita gave her New York Debut at Carnegie Hall as a finalist of Getting to Carnegie Competition.
She regularly appears at the "Les Pianos Folies du Touquet" piano festival in Le Touquet, France as soloist and chamber musician among world-famous pianists such as Boris Berezovsky, Nikolai Lugansky, Benjamin Grosvenor or Andrei Korobeinikov.
At the age of 17 she was admitted to the Franz Liszt Academy of Music of Budapest, Hungary in the class of Laszlo Mezo (Bartok Quartet) where she obtained both her Bachelor's and first Masters degree. In 2012, she continued her studies under Prof. Philippe Muller in France, attending two schools at the same time in Hungary and France. She holds an Artist’s Diploma from Montclair State University where she studied in the class of Nicholas Tzavaras (Shanghai Quartet) and a Master of Musical Arts degree from Yale School of Music where she studied with the late Aldo Parisot.
Misuzu Tanaka, piano
Hailed by international press for her "dizzying speed and sensitivity" Today’s Zaman (Turkey) and “exceptionally high technical level” General-Anzeiger Bonn (Germany), Misuzu Tanaka has established herself as an artist of remarkable individuality with a rare combination of poetic sensitivity and breathtaking virtuosity.
She has performed in prestigious concert venues throughout the world, from the Gewandhaus in Leipzig and Mozart’s Museum at Villa Bertramka in Prague to Alice Tully Hall in New York. She has also achieved notable success in international competitions, receiving prizes and awards in the International Janáček Competition, Boulder Bach Festival's World Bach Competition and the Daniel Rutenberg Chamber Music Competition to name a few.
Her debut album, “Misuzu Tanaka in Concert”, which was recorded live on the Concertant Classics label, features works by Leoš Janáček and J. S. Bach, two composers who have been a constant source of her musical inspiration. Additionally, she has released a debut album “Epilogues” with clarinetist Maksim Shtrykov, which focuses on four clarinet sonatas that are among the last works of three leading composers – Johannes Brahms, Camille Saint-Saens and Francis Poulenc.
Born in London, United Kingdom where she began her piano lessons at age 5, she then continued her studies in Japan and in the United States with Martin Canin at The Juilliard School. Her Masters and Doctoral degrees are from University of Michigan where she was a full scholarship recipient and devoted much time to the study and performance of the works of Leoš Janáček, which led to further studies with Miroslav Brejcha and the late Ivan Moravec in the Czech Republic.