Virtuosic Trio Plays New Music at UB

“Did you see that? There are Gods walking down the halls!” remarked Trevor Bjorklund, adjunct theory professor, upon bumping into the Trio of Magnus Andersen, Pascal Gallois and Rohan de Saram. Indeed, the center for 21st century music and the UB music department was fortunate to have powerhouse virtuosi Magnus Andersson, Pascal Gallois and Rohan de Saram visit for a week of masterclasses, workshops that culminated in an arresting evening concert. The concert program included contemporary music staples like the Berio Sequenza for Bassoon and Xenakis’s Kottos for Cello.
	Champions of their instruments, the trio have individually contributed to the development of contemporary music through their collaboration with established composers like Luciano Berio, and Ianis Xenakis to name a few. Now with the new formation of this yet unnamed trio, they are coming together to pass on their valuable experience and to spark a whole new genre of works for this instrumental combination. Student composers that benefited from the workshop include John Bacon, Felipe Ribero, Diana Soh, Ethan Hayden, Chun-ting Pang and Robert Philips whose piece was selected to be played as an encore in their evening concert.
Unassuming in their demeanor, they were approachable and generous with their time, offering anecdotes on their past experiences working with other composers and educating all that were in the room.