SWITCH

Switch is the debut album of the Galan Trio.

Thomas E. Bramel (U.S.A.), David Haladjian (Armenia - Switzerland), Vincent Kennedy (Ireland), Vasco M. N. Pereira (Portugal), Harald Weiss (Germany) and Nikos Xanthoulis (Greece) are the six composers, who accepted to compose for the Galan Trio.

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ARARAT

ARARAT is the fruit of an association between six composers from Armenia, Portugal, Ireland, America and Russia, and the greek musicians of the Galan Trio. This studio recording made in Athens, invites us on a mystic journey in Armenia.
“The story of Noah’s Ark, stranded on the slopes of Mount Ararat after long, aimless wandering. The most important thing in this story is hope. To keep hoping even when everything has sunk, disappeared, and nothing can be seen. But somewhere there is a mountain on whose flanks we might rest. Ararat is a symbol for all who believe in a life powered by indomitable hope. I got the idea of a thematic piece, Six Perspectives of Mount Ararat, in which each composer would compose a variation on a theme. It is interesting to note that, in Armenian, every component of the word "Ararat" has a meaning.” (David Haladjian, the instructor of this project)
© Melism Records

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KINESIS

To cast spells, to enchant, to cry, to sing, to scream like a gale. These are some of the meanings of galan, and, appropriately enough, why the Galan Trio adopted their name back in 2012. A classical piano trio based in Athens, Greece, the three top-shelf virtuosi have earned a wide reputation for pushing the genre and raising the bar. Given the energy and momentum behind their performances and career, the pandemic lockdown hit them especially hard. But we also have it to thank for Kinesis, their new double album of ten brand new works.

In the field of biology, kinesis refers to the undirected movement of a cell or organism in response to an external stimulus. The music in Kinesis (after the Greek word κίνησις - movement), captures this “undirected movement” the trio was yearning for after a long period of silence.

Constrained during the European quarantine, they set about commissioning US-based composers – some with Greek heritage – for intensely personal pieces that reflected their own sense of isolation and struggle. In their own distinct languages and musical styles, the Kinesis composers provide a different perspective on the concept of motion, an idea strongly attached to music-making both in figurative and literal terms. And now the project has come to fruition in the form of tours, lectures, and masterclasses in nine institutions across the Eastern US.

As with their previous albums, Ararat and Switch, the Galan Trio continues their practice of commissioning and promoting new music. With Kinesis, they extend their efforts to a new continent and share stories of revival and rejuvenation after such a dark time.

Official release date: 20/01/2023 by Neuma Records

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DE CHIRICO

This collection comprises works by George Kontogiorgos for piano trio and duets, composed mostly during the last decade. Some of them are original, while others are based on his songs, converted to classical settings. The piano trio De Chirico was inspired by symbolic painter Giorgio De Chirico, who was born in Volos and lived there during his ​youth. The little steam train, built by his father Evaristo, on its uphill Mount Pelion journey, used to make a stop in Agria, the place where the composer lives. The duet Before the Rain  starts was awarded by the renowned violinist Hilary Hahn in an international composition contest. Both Dominance and An unwithering Rose are of single movement works for piano trio. The duet Chasing the fleeting Time recalls a composer‘s experience traveling from the heavily snowed Toronto Canada to the burning desert of Tucson Arizona, whereas the duet Schifting Balances, challenges a wayward fleeting conversation between violin and cello. 

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ORDO

Galan Trio along with Dimitris Kountouras and Dimitris Azorakos got musically together and recorded the piece “A Cambridge Musick: solve et coagula” by the American composer Philip Blackburn for “ORDO”.

released October 21, 2023 by Neuma Records

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In 2021, the Galan Trio – an epic classical piano trio hailing from Athens – built a bridge from Greece to the USA in the form of ten new works for piano, violin, and cello from composers based in the Southeast and Northeast. The project, aptly named Kinesis, met with such acclaim that their odyssey now continues with another phase: twelve commissioned works covering the Midwest and South Central states.

Praised by Fanfare magazine for the “open ears and flexibility they display in so many idioms,” Galan Trio’s Kinesis, Vol. 2 expands further on their musical territory while maintaining the motion and emotional energy of the first set.

Highlights of the new double album include works that draw inspiration from children’s books and songs, a Welsh lullaby in the face of the Omicron viral variant, a microtonal homage to Jethro Tull, esoteric use of the numbers 9 and 70, the grand murals of Tom Lea, and a meeting of Persian and Western classical traditions.

Once again, let Petros Bouras (piano), Babis Karasavvidis (violin), and Marina Kolovou (cello) be your guides on this award-winning, unstoppable trip.

released January 31, 2024 by Neuma Records

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