Atlas Piano Trio
Gary Capozziello, violin
Ignacy Gaydamovich, cello
Cihan Yücel, piano
Piano Trio in G (1880)
1. Andantino con moto allegro
2. Scherzo: Moderato con allegro
3. Andante espressivo
4. Finale: Appassionato
Claude Debussy
(1862-1918)
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Piano Trio in Eb, D.929, Op. 100 (1827)
1. Allegro
2. Andante con moto
3. Scherzando. Allegro moderato
4. Allegro moderato
Franz Schubert
(1797-1828)
About the Musicians
The New England based Atlas Piano Trio prides itself on being a trans-atlantic ensemble that presents historically-informed performances of the trio canon as well as music of the current century. Being portrayed as “Gary, the all-American boy next door; Ignacy, the mellow, kind and good-humored Slav; and Cihan, the dark and serious Turk,” the Drozdoff Society’s Impromptu! Classical Music Series further described their distinctive personalities coming together for a “powerful and riveting performance”. The trio was born out of friendship and passion for chamber music during their doctoral studies within the Hartt School’s honors chamber music program 2020, a fellowship that enriches the collaboration of its students through intensive chamber music study, innovative programming and community engagement. The Atlas Trio has performed throughout New England, including performances at the historic Lyric Hall in New Haven, CT, and the Amadeus Piano Company in Stamford, CT. They have fervently embraced the historically-informed performance practice movement, continuing to apply principles from historical treatises to their interpretations of the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries. They are passionate about discovering historical pianos, actively seeking various private and public collections.
Award-winning violinist Gary Capozziello enjoys a varied musical life as both highly versatile performer and teacher. A frequent soloist with orchestra, his concerto appearances have included concerts with the Manchester Symphony, the New Haven Civic, American Chamber Orchestra, Connecticut Valley Chamber Orchestra, Hartt Symphony and the Hartt Wind Ensemble. He joined the Hartford Symphony in 2016, and is also assistant principal second violin of the Eastern Connecticut Symphony. A proud product of his native Fairfield, CT, he has twice been featured guest artist at the Annual Fairfield County String Festival, and he has made appearances on “The Exchange” television broadcast and benefit concerts for Music for Youth and South Shore Music Inc. As a chamber performer, he has spent two summers performing at the Kneisel Hall Chamber Festival, as well as appearing at the Cambridge International Music Academy (UK), Texas Music Festival, the NYU String Quartet Program, and the Amalfi Music Festival in Italy. He is a doctoral student at the Hartt School and was a member of the 2020 honors chamber music program as a doctoral teaching assistant to Katie Lansdale. Gary earned his B.M. at SUNY Purchase Conservatory and his M.M. from New England Conservatory, where his principal teachers were Laurie Smukler, Lucy Chapman and Nick Kitchen. Gary was chosen to perform in masterclass for many of today's influential artists, including Maxim Vengerov, Isaac Stern, and Midori, and in chamber music masterclasses for members of the Juilliard, Mendelssohn, Tokyo, Borromeo, American, Orion, Audubon, Fine Arts and Chicago String Quartets. www.garycapozziello.com/
Cihan Yücel has performed hundreds of solo and chamber music concerts in the US, Europe, and his native Turkey - including a solo recital broadcasted on the Turkish National Radio, and a performance of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Presidential Symphony Orchestra. Born in Ankara Cihan began his piano studies at the age of six. In 1998, he entered Hacettepe University Ankara State Conservatory to study with Menekşe Akar. In 2009 Cihan came to the United States for his Master’s degree, studying with Paul Rutman and Anne Koscielny at The Hartt School of Music. His leaning towards chamber music during his Master’s and Artist Diploma studies at the Hartt School brought success to him and his chamber music groups. Vagus Trio, one of his chamber music groups, became the State Winner and National Finalist in the Music Teachers National Association Competition in 2011. His long-term mentors were composer İlhan Baran, pianists Eric Trudel, Louis de Moura Castro, and David Westfall. Currently, Cihan is in the Hartt School’s honors chamber music program, Performance 20/20, and pursuing his Doctor of Musical Arts degree with Paul Rutman. www.neymanarts.com/yucel
Cellist Ignacy Gaydamovich is an active soloist, recitalist, teacher, chamber musician, and a recording artist. From recent engagements, Gaydamovich performed Saint-Saëns Cello Concerto No. 1 with Manchester Symphony Orchestra. His latest CD features cello works by Lukas Foss recorded for the first time in history. Gaydamovich regularly performs in Europe, Lebanon, Japan, and the United States and is a recipient of multiple awards from Austrian, American, and Polish institutions. In 2012 he gave the Albanian premiere of the Korngold Cello Concerto with the National Radio and Tv Orchestra of Albania in Tirana. As an advocate for new music, he gave the American premiere of Cellotronicum for cello and computer by Michal Talma-Sutt, commissioned and premiered a solo work by Alexander Barsov and appeared on a crossover CD Cosmospir. He is a founding member of the Atlas Piano Trio and the principal cellist of the Boston Chamber Orchestra. He collaborated with pianists Janusz Grzelazka, Judith Gordon, Vyacheslav Gryaznov, Jiayan Sun, Mohamed Shams, Cihan Yücel, and Rasa Vitkauskaite; with violinists Arkady Fomin, Fernando Vizcayno, and Gary Capozziello; as well as with cellists Jesus Castro-Balbi and Christopher Adkins.
A passionate teacher and organizer, Gaydamovich has been a frequent guest at the Conservatory Music in the Mountains in Durango, Colorado. He presented masterclasses at the first middle-east orchestra program in Beirut, as well as at festivals in Japan, Poland, Lithuania, and at several American colleges and schools. He served as a Visiting Assistant Professor at the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam and was on the cello faculty at the Texas Christian University, and Mount Holyoke College, and recently held the, as well as organized the first Amherst Cello Camp in June of 2017 and is the director of Amherst Art Academy. Currently, he is on the faculty at Indian Hill Music School, Uconn Joy Program, and Avon Old Farms School, coaches cello sectionals at the Smith College, as well as is a cellist with the Indian Hill Orchestra.
Gaydamovich was born into an artistic family and he spent his formative years in Poland studying piano, cello, and composition. There he also devoted his time as a music director of the Dzien Smierci Mozarta theater and produced a play for light and shadow after Britten's Suite No. 1. After winning several prizes at international competitions in Austria and Poland, he moved to the United States to continue his graduate studies. There his interests expanded to include conducting.
In addition to performance and pedagogical work Gaydamovich is the author of a dissertation about Alfred Schnittke's Cello Sonata No. 1, and cello method Beyond the Octave that expands upon the work of Janos Starker, and has lectured on historically informed performance practices relating to the classical cello repertoire. In his spare time, he likes to make arrangements and transcriptions. Thanks to Chabner Family Foundation Gaydamovich is playing on a modern copy of an Amati The King 1566 cello made by Wojciech Topa. Gaydamovich has received degrees from F. Chopin Music Academy, Texas Christian University, Boston Conservatory, Longy School of Music, and the doctorate from the University of Hartford. He has studied with Terry King, Jesús Castro-Balbi, Rhonda Rider, Andrzej Bauer and Kazimierz Michalik. www.gaydamovich.com