Tchaikovsky Piano Trio

James Stern, violin

Eric Kutz, cello

Miko Kominami, piano

Friday, March  27, 2026

Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

Piano Trio in A minor

     I. Pezzo elegiaco. Moderato assai – Allegro giusto

     II. Tema con variazioni

About the Artists:

Hailed by the Washington Post for “virtuosity and penetrating intelligence,” violinist James Stern is a member of two critically acclaimed ensembles, the Stern/Andrist Duo with his wife, Canadian pianist Audrey Andrist, and Strata, a trio in which the two of them are joined by clarinetist Nathan Williams. The duo has performed throughout the United States, Canada and China, with additional recitals in Munich and Paris. The trio is featured on a compact disc of new and standard repertoire on Arizona University Recordings, and has appeared in New York City under the auspices of the International Society for Contemporary Music. Strata has received enthusiastic repeat engagements at San Francisco Composers Inc (for which they were listed as one of San Francisco Classical Voice’s “highlights of 2005”), the Piccolo Spoleto Festival and New York’s historic Maverick Concerts. Stern has recorded Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas for Albany Records.

He has performed at the Marlboro, Ravinia, Banff and Bowdoin festivals as well as at New York’s Alice Tully Hall and Carnegie Hall. Well-known to Washington, D. C. audiences, he has performed with the 21st Century Consort, the Verge Ensemble, the Smithsonian Chamber Players and the Axelrod Quartet, at such venues as the Corcoran Gallery, the German and French Embassies, the Smithsonian Institution, the Library of Congress, the National Gallery, the Phillips Collection, Strathmore Mansion and the White House, as well as the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the University of Maryland. Stern is a professor of violin at the University of Maryland where he has been named Distinguished Scholar-Teacher.

Cellist Eric Kutz has captivated audiences across North America, Europe, and the Middle East. He is active as a teacher, a chamber musician, an orchestral musician, and a concerto soloist. His diverse collaborations cut across musical styles, and have ranged from cellist Yo-Yo Ma to jazz great Ornette Coleman. His 2024 release of the complete Cello Suites of JS Bach on Albany Records was lauded by Fanfare as “one of the best in a world where there is no lack of performances.” Kutz is also a founding member of the Murasaki Duo, a cello and piano ensemble formed at the Juilliard School in 1996. The Duo has released three commercial recordings, and it performs on chamber music series throughout the nation. 

Kutz summers in Chicago as a member of the Grant Park Orchestra’s cello section. He has also appeared in the sections of the New York Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, and Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. Kutz has premiered more than 30 works, and has been broadcast nationally on NPR and on PBS television’s Live from Lincoln Center. He joined the faculty of University of Maryland School of Music in 2015. Previously he was a professor at Luther College, where he served from 2002-2015, and prior to that, Mr. Kutz was the cellist of the Chester String Quartet for four years.  The Quartet, called “one of the best and brightest of the country’s young string quartets” by the Boston Globe, gave two tours of Europe during Kutz’s tenure, and performed from coast to coast. Mr. Kutz holds degrees from the Juilliard School and Rice University. He performs on a cello by Raffaele Fiorini (Bologna, 1877), and a bow by Jacob Eury (Paris, 1810).

Acclaimed by New York Concert Review as "both a virtuosic and a musicianly performer," Miko Kominami gave her New York Solo Debut Recital at Carnegie's Weill Recital Hall after winning the 1996 Artists International Award. Since then, Ms. Kominami has concertized extensively throughout North America, including performances in New York City, Chicago, Boston, and Toronto. She has been featured on Maine and Iowa public radio stations. Ms. Kominami has also appeared as soloist with Orchestra Iowa (three times), the Danbury Symphony, the Kishwaukee Symphony, the Symphony of the Potomac, the Luther College Symphony and Chamber Orchestras, and the Indiana University South Bend Philharmonic. She is the recipient of numerous awards and prizes including a Canada Council Arts Grant, and First Prize at the 1996 Concerto Soloists' Competition in Philadelphia.
Ms. Kominami holds both Bachelor and Master of Music Degrees from the Juilliard School in New York City, as wel