As a musician, playing in New York is a mindboggling dream many strive for. However, three young Lipscomb students fulfilled this dream when the Avalon Trio was named third best in the nation as a chamber ensemble on Mar. 24 in New York City.
After the Avalon Trio’s performance of Mendelssohn’s Trio No. 2 in C minor and Paul Schoenfield’s “Café Music”, the group placed third at the Music Teacher National Association’s chamber competition at the 2012 national conference in New York City.
“What speaks more than our ability as musicians, I think, is the ability that us three have together to just play music,” said cellist Kenneth Coca. “I don’t think we could have done it with another group or with other musicians.”
The three-year-old trio consists of Joel Campbell on violin, Coca on cello and Julian Calvin on piano. The group is coached by Jerome Reed, Patricia and Rodes Hart Professor of Piano at Lipscomb University.
Not only did the group walk away with the accomplishment of becoming one of the top three ensembles in the nation, but the process of getting there for the Avalon Trio continues to leave the group astonished and grateful. And the term ‘getting there’ is meant in a literal sense.
Rodes Hart, benefactor for the Patricia and Rodes Hart Endowed Chair for Piano, sponsored the group’s trip to New York. The Avalon Trio never expected to travel to the big and beautiful NYC in high style, but Dr. Hart made sure to do just that by providing a private jet just for the trio to fly to New York City in. Hart hosted their entire trip with a Broadway production, fancy dinners, and even had a Steinway Piano delivered up to his hotel room so the group could practice prior to their performance.
“Needless to say, he didn’t stop at anything to make us feel good, so our thanks are due to him,” said Coca.
This was a huge accomplishment for an ensemble from such a small university such as Lipscomb. Countless hours of practice and complete dedication shows with every performance, continually leaving people amazed and inspired by their ability to play such beautiful music.
“I think it definitely has something to do with when we first started playing we were three individual musicians, and this year we really came together.,” said Campbell. “We really became one.”