STOCKTON — The Peabody Trio returns to Stockton on Sunday, Feb. 9

The Peabody Trio is celebrating its 26th season as part of the Stockton Friends of Chamber Music Series. Their return is eagerly anticipated after highly successful concerts in Stockton in 2001 and 2006.

Since winning the prestigious Naumburg Chamber Music Award in 1989, The Peabody Trio has established itself as an important presence in chamber music. They bring to their music making what The Washington Post calls “the romantic fervor of the 20th century greats”.

The Peabody Trio made its New York debut in 1990 and has since performed in the most important chamber music series in North America. Internationally, they tour frequently in England, Japan and Israel. The trio currently serve as the resident faculty ensemble of the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, a position they have held since 1989. They spend summers as ensemble-in-residence at the Yellow Barn Music School and Festival in Putney, Vermont.     

The three musicians on The Peabody Trio come from diverse musical backgrounds. Violaine Melancon serves on the violin and chamber music faculties of the Peabody Conservatory and has premiered several works by leading composers. During the spring of 2012, she presented the complete works for solo violin by J.S. Bach, a project which will continue for the next few years.

Cellist Natasha Brofsky has enjoyed a career in both the United States and Europe. Ms. Brofsky has performed as guest with numerous ensembles, including the Takacs, Prazak, Norwegian, Borromeo, Jupiter and Ying Quartets and has held principal positions in the Norwegian Radio Orchestra and the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra.

Pianist Seth Knopp is a founding member of the Peabody Trio and Artistic Director of the Yellow Barn Music School and Festival, an international gathering of artists who meet each summer to explore the vast riches of the chamber music repertoire. Since 2010 he has been curator of Soundings, a concert series drawing on the relationship between musical traditions and innovation, and the unique lens through which music helps us to better understand the world.

Tickets are $25 and are available in the lobby of Faye Spanos Concert Hall at UOP starting at 2:00 pm, 30 minutes before the concert. Students of any age are admitted free with ID.

Friends of Chamber Music concerts are presented in cooperation with Pacific and its Conservatory of Music. For a brochure or more information about the FOCM annual series, call 209-467-0224 or visit www.chambermusicfriends.org.