Trio 212
8:30pm EDT Sunday April 25, 2021
Mark Sophia, Oboe
Ian Tyson, Clarinet
Joshua Hodge, Bassoon
Our friends at Trio 212 present a delightful and varied recital highlighting several new American works for reed trio. Composer Leanna Primiani joins WHCO Music Director Chris Whittaker for a conversation about her work and the premiere of her piece OMNI for Reed Trio and Electronics. Streaming on Facebook and YouTube. Free! The concert will last approximately 50 minutes.
Funded in part by a grant from the NYC & Company Foundation.
Program
Gordon Jacob: Trio for Oboe, Clarinet and Bassoon
Joseph Hallman: Miniatures
Damian Montano: Trio for Oboe, Clarinet and Bassoon
Leanna Primiani: OMNI for Reed Trio and Electronics (World Premiere)
Jean Françaix: Divertissement for Oboe, Clarinet and Bassoon
About the Artists
American oboist, Mark Sophia was born and raised in upstate New York. In his early years of studying music, Mark was inspired by attending summer music festivals at the Brevard Music Center, Brevard NC, and various private lessons and classes at Ithaca College, Ithaca NY.
Mark earned a B.M. from the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam, an M.M. from Manhattan School of Music, and an Ed.M. From Columbia University. After his studies, Mark carved out a space for himself in New York City, performing with over fifteen groups, including the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, being an on call substitute for The Phantom of the Opera, and independent chamber music endeavors like Trio 212. As an active music teacher, Mark has directed a private studio and was on staff at five different teaching organizations, including the InterSchool Youth Orchestras and the Little Orchestra Society.
Traveling has always been an integral aspect of Mark’s performing career. Mark has performed abroad in the Rome Festival Orchestra on a tour of Italy, The National Arts Center program in Ottawa, Canada, and the Britten-Pears Festival Orchestra in England. In 2018, He embarked on a two year national Broadway tour performing oboe and English horn in Miss Saigon. On the tour, he performed over 350 shows in 35 cities and 25 states.
During the pandemic, Mark has returned home from the tour to New York City and reunited with his colleagues of Trio 212 to perform a monthly live-stream concert series, performing two to three concerts a month. He has also done studio recording work for commercials and is exploring his music arranging and writing skills.
Ian Tyson is a New York City clarinetist. He is a founding member of Trio 212, was a clarinetist with the United States Air Force bands, and was most recently an Orpheus Chamber Orchestra Fellow. A champion of new music, Ian commissioned Crystal Cathedral from composer Leanna Primiani, and performed it at the International Clarinet Association's 2018 ClarinetFest in Ostend, Belgium. He has performed with orchestras, chamber groups, and given solo recitals in such prestigious venues as The Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, and Lincoln Center.
A dedicated pedagogue, Ian is faculty at Vassar College, Bard College Conservatory of Music Preparatory Division, Special Music School, New York Conservatory of Music and Arts, and also maintains a substantial private clarinet studio. He has performed and given master classes throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, and Africa. As a teaching artist with Daraja Music Initiative, Ian works in Tanzania teaching students to play the clarinet and helping to conserve the African Blackwood tree.
Ian received a DMA from Stony Brook University, MM from Michigan State University, and BM from Miami University (OH).
Bassoonist Joshua Hodge maintains a varied and active performance schedule in New York City that brings him from Broadway pits and concert halls to house concerts and bars. When he's not making reeds or practicing, he is usually teaching, coaching, or LGBTQ rock climbing events at Central Rock in an effort to help build and foster a supportive fitness community.
Joshua attended the Interlochen Arts Academy from '07-'09, where he studied with Eric Stomberg. Upon finishing, he attended the Bard College Conservatory of Music, where he double majored in bassoon performance and Asian studies and was captain of the swim team for three years. There he studied with Patricia Rogers and Marc Goldberg, and continued under Goldberg's tutelage at the Mannes School of Music where he completed his MM in '16. He has had fellowships with the Aspen, Bowdoin, and Imani Winds music festivals, has been a guest artist with the Classical Bridge Music Festival here in NYC since its inception, and has gone on tour with the Bard Orchestra three times: throughout China, Eastern Europe and Russia, and Cuba.