---

Willy Sucre on viola will be joined by Heather Haughn on violin, James DeWire on piano, and Diana Flesner on cello to perform "Piano Trio in C minor, Op. 101" by Brahms and "Piano Quartet No. 2 in E flat Major, Op. 87" by Dvorak. 

About the Show

Since their first performance on the Western Shore of the Chesapeake Bay in 2008, the West Shore Piano Trio has brought passion, color, and penetrating insight to the works they perform, not only through their playing but also through their commentary and interaction with audiences.  Praised for their “fluid” and “sultry” playing, the West Shore Piano Trio brings new life to the monuments of the trio literature.

Highlights from recent seasons include the premier of Ruby Fulton’s trio “Whitney” which was commissioned by the WSPT and premiered at Community College of Baltimore County Essex Community College in Baltimore, MD; collaborative performances with DancEthos at Washington DC's Fringe Festival; a concert and masterclass at Endicott College in Beverly, MA; travels to New Mexico to collaborate with violist Willy Sucre for performances in Placitas and Socorro; and  a performance on the FUMC Vesper Concert Series in Lubbock, TX. Past concerts have taken the West Shore Trio from coast to coast and they have performed in Alabama, California, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, Washington, D.C. and West Virginia. Performances include concerts at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Chautauqua Institution, Intersections Festival, An die Musik, the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, Goucher College, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, Harmony Hall, and the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts.

The WSPT believes that education and live performance enhance each other, and that the better informed an audience is about a work, the more deeply they will appreciate its performance. To this end, the members of the trio accompany each concert with brief verbal commentary, providing biographical details about the composer, framing the work in the context of its time, and highlighting thematic and compositional elements of the piece, as well as connections shared between each work on the program. When speaking about the music, they use accessible, jargon-free language that enables the music to be understood by non-musicians and musicians alike.

The West Shore Trio’s commitment to education further extends to include masterclasses, question-and-answer sessions, and collaborative projects. They maintain an active relationship with the Duke Ellington School for the Arts, where they have given multiple concerts, coached students from the orchestra, and served as mentors for students in the string and piano divisions.They also maintain ongoing connections with Frostburg State University and Goucher College, where they have given concerts, spoken to students about the logistics and lifestyle of a career in music, and given a lecture/performance on the political and personal elements of Shostakovich’s piano trio. While traveling they have visited local schools or colleges and have given concerts and worked with students at Endicott College in Massachusetts and at the Stephen Wise Academy in California.

The WSPT also maintains an ongoing collaborative relationship with DancEthos. In November 2012 they gave the premier performance of the dance piece The Divide, which is set to the music of Rebecca Clarke and explores the complex landscape of gender bias and definition. This collaborative work was performed again in February 2013 and featured as part of the innovative multi-genre Intersections Festival in Washington, D.C. Their performances with DancEthos in 2015 as part of the Fringe festival were voted as one of the top performances of the festival

Based in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area, the members of the trio were educated at the Eastman School of Music, New England Conservatory, San Francisco Conservatory, Rice University Shepherd School of Music, the University of Illinois, and the University of Maryland. They have studied with or been coached by such esteemed musicians as violinists Lynn Blakeslee, Isaac Stern, Kathleen Winkler, Roland and AlmitaVamos, and ZviZeitlin, pianists Larissa Dedova and Brian Ganz, cellists Bonnie Hampton and Brandon Vamos, and members of the Aborada, Alexander, American, Cleveland, Concord, Juilliard, Kocian, Kronos, Left Bank, Miami, Miró, Pacifica, Penderecki, St. Lawrence, Tákacs, Tokyo, and Ying Quartets.

About the Performers

Jay DeWire

Pianist Jay DeWire, a frequent solo performer and member of the West Shore Trio, has appeared up and down the eastern seaboard and is becoming known for both his dynamic interpretations of 20th Century works and his "old world flair". Dr. DeWire began playing piano at the age of four and gave his first solo recital at age 12. He received a B.A. with High Distinction and a Master of Arts in piano performance from the University of Virginia, and a Master of Music from the New England Conservatory. In December of 2007 he received a D.M.A. from the University of Maryland School of Music (College Park). 

Heather Haughn

Heather Haughn, violin, enjoys a diverse career as an active chamber musician, orchestral player, and teacher. She currently plays with the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra, Concert Artists of Baltimore, Delaware Symphony Orchestra, Lancaster Symphony Orchestra, Maryland Symphony Orchestra, and the National Philharmonic. She is on the faculty of Goucher College and the Duke Ellington School of the Arts. Ms. Haughn received her Bachelor of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music where she studied with Lynn Blakeslee. She received a Master of Music degree from Rice University where she studied with Kathleen Winkler.

Diana Flesner

Diana Flesner, cello,  received her DMA from the University of Illinois, where she studied with Brandon Vamos. Originally from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, she received her MM from San Francisco Conservatory and her BA magna cum laude from Middlebury College with a double major in Music and Russian Language/Literature. Her principal teachers have included Bonnie Hampton, Jean-Michel Fonteneau, and Dieuwke Davydov. While at the University of Illinois she received a full scholarship to be a member of the Graduate String Quartet and while in San Francisco she was a member of the Bravel Piano Trio. She has participated in Manchester Music Festival and The Quartet Program at Bucknell and has played in masterclasses or coached with members of the Pacifica, Miró, Miami, Kocian, Tokyo, Juilliard, Tákacs, and Kronos Quartets.

Willy Sucre

Violist Willy Sucre is a member of the New Mexico Philharmonic and is the driving force behind the "Willy Sucre & Friends" concerts.  Born in La Paz, Bolivia, Sucre studied at the Conservatorio Nacional de Música in La Paz, Colby College Chamber Music Institute in Waterville, Maine, Mannes School of Music in New York, and the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore,Maryland. He has been conductor and music director of the Albuquerque Philharmonic Orchestra, assistant conductor and principal violist of the Canada Symphony Orchestra inMontreal, assistant conductor and assistant principal violist of the former New Mexico Symphony Orchestra, principal violist and guest conductor of the National Symphony of Bolivia, the Chamber Orchestra of La Paz, and the Albuquerque Chamber Orchestra.  As a chamber musician,Sucre was the founder of the Cuarteto Boliviano, guest violist with various chamber music ensembles, and for ten years the violist of the Helios String Quartet. His experience includes extensive chamber music concerts, lectures and school demonstrations, CD recordings, and television performances throughout South, Central, and North America. Sucre spends most of his summers in South America looking for new works of chamber music by modern composers and encouraging composers to write new pieces, especially piano quartets. He enjoys performing with ensembles of diverse instrumentation.