music that inspires
BELLA's MISSION is to connect people to themselves, each other, and their communities through professional live music performances of the highest standards, reflecting shared human emotions and experiences. BELLA sees their role as artists as inspiring people from diverse backgrounds to cherish the beauty in themselves and others.
BELLA is committed to being socially responsible and engaged artists in their community. Towards this end, they donate a portion of all of their donations to non-profit community organizations, including those dedicated to helping people and families affected by breast cancer.
After a long but rewarding search, we are pleased to announce BELLA 3.0!
Welcome violinist Nathanael Bartley and cellist and Bay Area native, Eric Gaenslen. We're looking forward to performing together in the Bay Area beginning this Fall.
See you at the next concert!
SFCV's Jeff Kaliss writes about the magic of intimate, personal concerts at home amongst friends old and new:
"...Mimi Lee, pianist with the BELLA Piano Trio, talks of similar “nerve-wracking” challenges, which she contrasts with “playing in a larger venue like a concert hall, when the lights are dimmed and you don’t see any particular faces.”
Lee estimates that 30 to 40 percent of her performances with the BELLA Trio occur as house concerts, several of them at a patron’s home at San Francisco’s highest residential elevation, atop Twin Peaks, where they’ll be this Saturday, Feb. 23. “There’s something very intimate and personal in how we can connect with the audience,” says Lee about these events. “People watch the dynamic between us, hear the sounds we’re making, and become part of that musical conversation. There’s stuff that happens, sometimes spontaneously, sometimes despite the best planning — we adjust and respond to that, and I think the audience is sensitive to when that kind of thing is happening. It makes house concerts really exciting.”
“We try to bring in our personalities, style, and sound, and explain that about that music speaks to us,” adds Lee. “In the Piazzolla Four Seasons of Buenos Aires, where you can feel you’re in Argentina on a summer’s day, we’re trying to stretch certain notes out to give it that elasticity. If we can demonstrate that, it kind of demystifies things.”
With her M.D.-Ph.D. from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and a bunch of avocations, Lee also cherishes the opportunity to converse with her diverse audiences, “where all my worlds collide into each other, making everything feel more human. Sharing common interests in music or neuroscience or medicine or yoga, it’s inspiring, and I guess it makes me feel not so alone.”..."
Bravo! to Susan Bates and the amazing YCM artists who performed and presented a beautiful program on Saturday's Recital at the SF Conservatory. It was an honor to follow their polished act!
We're pleased to present the Young Chamber Musicians, directed by reknowned Bay Area Violist and Pedagogue, Susan Bates this Saturday night. Bring your friends and be inspired by these talented, passionate young adults. BELLA will also perform Schubert's beloved Trio No.2 - yes, the one with the Hollywood favorite second (slow) movement and the devilish repeating notes in the fourth movement!
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Dear FRIENDS OF BELLA, We wish you each a safe, warm and memorable holiday season. And we'd like to offer you our most sincere and heartfelt THANK YOU for all of the support and kindness you have generously given to us this year. During this charitable holiday season, we hope that you will include BELLA and help us promote our mission to present the highest quality, fresh interpretations of the chamber music repertoire to old and new audiences of all kinds. All cash donations are 100% tax-deductible through our fiscal sponsors, the San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music. Be sure to indicate BELLA Piano Trio as the Affiliate recipient of your donation.
Corporate matching gifts are also welcome! We have a special gift for you - a COMPLIMENTARY CD of some live highlight performances(and outtakes!) from 2012. Please join our mailing list to receive your copy.
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BELLA Trio at Arlington Church with Bay Area Classical Harmonies (B.A.C.H.)
Basque in some holiday cheer with us at Arlington Community Church in Kensington - a charming area not far from the Berkeley Hills. We'll be featuring Debussy's one and only piano trio, composed in 1881 at the tender age of 17 - a score that was lost to society for over 100 years! We'll also be presenting our interpretation of the beloved "Dumky" trio by Antonin Dvorak (1891) - it's full of gypsy themes, ecstasy and melanocholy making for quite the adventurous ride!
We'll also have a few holiday pieces for everyone to enjoy and participate in - so bring the family and let's have some fun!
2012 HIGHLIGHTS
included salons, performances and outreach concerts all over the SF Bay Area, in Banff, CANADA and in NYC.
We were honored to have been chosen to participate in the International Chamber Music Artist-in-Residency at Banff There, we were privileged to be coached daily by members of the Cleveland, Juilliard and Brentano Quartets among others, as well as perform in Masterclasses and on stage in Rolston Hall.
We were also honored to be chosen by audition to compete in the Semi-Final Round of the Concert Artist Guild Competition in NYC. Though we did not advance to the finals, we were pleased with our show in our first competition as an ensemble. And we feel much better prepared for our next opportunity!
Perhaps our most cherished highlight was personal and professional mentorship of the internationally-acclaimed Alexander String Quartetwho have provided us with tools and skills that we will hold throughout our careers.
Finally, we were honored to become an official Steinway Ensemble in 2012.
2013 HIGHLIGHTS
is already shaping up to be another exciting time for growth, self-exploration and most importantly, the opportunity to share our passion for the power of music.
We have been selected to perform at the Chamber Music America's 35th National Conference Showcasein January.
We have also been selected to participate in what may be the last Winter Creative Residency at the International Banff Center.
Finally, we are looking forward to collaborating with the San Francisco Classical Voice to cultivate, engage and educate new audiences for classical music in the SF Bay Area and beyond. You can help with this mission by attneding the lecture-performances, telling your friends, and suggesting locations and venues where you think new audiences would find appealing to learn about classical music in a casual, intimate, warm and friendly environment.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS and SEE YOU in 2013!
Don't forget to like us on fb and visit our YouTube channel!
12 SEPTEMBER 2012, 9pm |Salle Piano Szalon
14 SEPTEMBER 2012, 8pm |Master Class
16 SEPTEMBER 2012, 2pm |Salon
HCSF | SFCM Chamber Music Salon
22 SEPTEMBER 2012, 8pm |Recital
SF Conservatory of Music Sol Joseph Recital Hall
28 SEPTEMBER 2012, 8pm |Recital
Bay Area Classical Harmonies (B.A.C.H.) at the Pro Arts Gallery
4 OCTOBER 2012, 7pm |Recital
6 OCTOBER 2012, 7pm |Recital
then off to NYC for the CAG competition!
for their inspiration, dedication and brutal honest feedback! can't wait to work with them more ... so awesome to have them leading the chamber music scene here in sf!
THANKS ASQ4!
summer's over, and we're back to work. we're looking forward to a really exciting fall - learning a few new pieces and honing a few gems to high polish. we're gearing up for the CAG competition in mid-october. mostly, we're having fun planning and preparing ... (won't hurt if it pays off!)
we'll be playing at the SFCM, Trinity Chapel, Novato Community Church, some more intimate salons and some private events.
looking forward to playing for you - be sure to join us and bring your friends!
