| Thelema Trio | |
| Origin: | Gent, Antwerpen, Belgium |
| Occupation: | Chamber music |
| Genre: | Contemporary classical |
| Years Active: | 2003-present |
| Label: | Innova Recordings |
| Website: | http://www.thelematrio.com |
| Current Members: | Ward De Vleeschhouwer, piano Peter Verdonck, saxophones Rik De Geyter, clarinets |
| Past Members: | Marco Antonio Mazzini, clarinets (2003-2010) |
Thelema Trio is a Belgian ensemble.Their performances in Belgium and abroad include prestigious festivals such as November Music(Belgium - the Netherlands), International Clarinet Festival in Tama, Tokyo (Japan), Artuatuca Festival(Belgium), National SCI Conference Greensboro, North-Carolina (USA), Annual New Music & Art FestivalBowling Green (USA), International Festival of Contemporary Music in Lima (Peru) and National SCIConference 2010 in Columbia, South Carolina (USA).__TOC__
Coming from three very different backgrounds – a dream childhood in Peru, a despairing coming-of-age in the Flemish countryside and countless voyages to breathtaking wonders of nature – Marco Antonio Mazzini, Peter Verdonck and Ward De Vleeschhouwer met each other in the heart of Ghent, Belgium.Between the buzzing walls of Belgium’s Royal Conservatoire of Music, these three musician-composers discovered a shared fascination for experimenting and making music with a range of sounds in different genres. They also shared the ambition to perform their music (including their own compositions) all over the world. Music is a world language: this could be their motto.The Thelema Trio was born from these shared passions.The music of the Thelema Trio will take you on a journey through different worlds, times and emotions. This is what gives the ensemble its incredibly rich timbre. One minute the Thelema Trio will intrigue you with intimate, understated pieces, and the next it will surprise you with exuberant, extravert compositions.
The Thelema Trio started with three graduates of the Ghent Conservatoire, where they studied chambermusic with Marcel Lequeux, Filip Rathé (Spectra Ensemble) and John Whitelaw. Ward de Vleeschouwer, Peter Verdonck andMarco Mazzini have been performing together as Thelema Trio since March 2003.
In their first year, they toured all over Belgium and the Netherlands, then performed in Cittá Della Pieve in Italy in August 2004 at the invitation of composer Luca Vanneschi, to perform a work he had composed especially for them.In October and November 2004, they toured the west coast of Peru. The Universidad San Marcos in Limahad invited the ensemble for concerts, master classes and lectures in Lima, Trujillo, Arequipa andChiclayo. They performed a number of concerts in these cities and worked with local musicians andcomposers.
In July 2005 they gave a concert at the International Clarinet Festival 2005 in Tama, Tokyo.They followed this with an extensive tour of the US in October in Greensboro, North-Carolina,Birmingham, Alabama, Monsmouth and Portland, Oregon, where they were invited by the AmericanSociety Of Composers to perform American and Belgian work. This tour was completed with another weekof concerts in Peru, South-America.
The following summer in 2006 was entirely dedicated to the recording and mixing of their first album,simply called “T H E L E M A…” On this disc the trio has selected a number of compositions that hadbeen written for them exclusively and that had been played throughout the previous years.“T H E L E M A…” was released with a prestigious concert in Ghent in April 2007 with the kind supportof the Flemish authorities. After the recordings of this album in 2006, Thelema Trio was invited asexclusive guest ensemble at Annual New Music & Art festival in Bowling Green, Ohio, US.
In March 2008 they had an extensive tour in the US, playing in universities and festivals ofMissouri, Wisconsin and Ohio. Beside those concerts they recorded a second full CD in the University ofMissouri with only New American Music, entitled “Neither From Nor Towards…” after the wonderful pieceby composer Eric Honour, who also engineered this recording. This album was released in November2009, again with a concert in Ghent which hosted a large audience for the trio. Innova Recordingsreleased the CD worldwide in Spring 2010.
The year 2010 marked a turning point in the career of this ensemble. Original clarinettist and foundingmember Marco Antonio Mazzini decided to leave Belgium again for his home country Peru. His departurefrom the trio left an open position in the trio, which was filled by Belgian clarinettist Rik De Geyter. InSeptember 2010 he performed his first concert with Thelema Trio in the Netherlands in a very beautifulvenue in the Dutch country on an evening dedicated to the music of Ellen Lindquist. In November 2010the trio again toured the US to promote the “Neither From Nor Towards…” album.
http://www.thelematrio.com/recordings.html