Trio Alterna

The Trio Alterna showed great expressiveness in a variety of very different pieces. They got better and better from round to round and surprised the listener with continually different, but always marvelous highlights. Their interpretation of the second movement of Beethoven’s “Ghost” Trio is certainly some of the most wonderful music that has been heard in the entire competition.
Siegburg Music Workshop

The Cologne-based Trio Alterna received the impetus for its founding at the Beethoven in his Time International Chamber Music Competition, where it won second prize and the special prize for the best interpretation of a work by Ludwig van Beethoven. The members of the Trio convinced the jury above all with their “great musicality in all of their performances.”

All three musicians have extensive experience, both as solo and chamber musicians, with modern composers as well as in the ¬eld of early music. The Trio’s repertoire ranges from early classical to world premieres of contemporary music, and has received inspiration for its interpretations from Gerald Hambitzer, among others.

Anna Dmitrieva studied violin and chamber music (with Tatiana Liberova, Pavel Popov, and Inga Dzektzer) at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory, Baroque violin and chamber music (with Richard Gwilt, Konrad Junghänel, Anthony Spiri, and Harald Schoneweg) at the Cologne University of Music, and at the Mozarteum Salzurg (with Reinhard Goebel).

She also performs internationally as a concertmaster with renowned ensembles (including Concerto Köln and Ensemble 1700) and is a passionate chamber musician. In 2021 she released a CD of the trio sonatas of Johann Gottlieb Goldberg with her group Ludus Intrumentalis. Since 2023, Dmitrieva has played a Camillo Camilli from the Jumpstart Jr. Foundation.

Amarilis Dueñas Castán is an important representative of her generation in the ¬eld of historical performance practice. On the cello and viola da gamba she performs throughout Europe as a soloist and with chamber music ensembles and orchestras such as the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Concerto Köln, and the B’Rock Orchestra.

She studied modern and Baroque cello as well as viola da gamba at the Cologne University of Music with Maria Kliegel and Rainer Zipperling. Since 2022 she has been studying viola da gamba with Robert Smith. She has won prizes at competitions such as the Pablo Casals International Award and Juventudes Musicales. In 2020 she released her solo album Soliloqvies.

Takahiko Sakamaki completed his master’s studies in solo piano with Andreas Frölich and in fortepiano with Gerald Hambitzer at the Cologne University of Music with top marks. His many years of experience on the clavichord,harpsichord, and fortepiano equip him with a special versatility and flexibility in the use of the different instruments. Numerous awards and appearances in Japan as well as in Europe testify to his outstanding artistic qualities.

The Alterna philosophy
The word “alterna” in Latin means “alternative,” or some other possibility or way. Which way is referred to here? With the aid of authentic instruments, memoirs, the study of manuscripts, and other means, historical performance practice enables us to gain a better understanding of the aesthetics of an era.

In other words, it is less about the purely instrumental accomplishments than about the sound language of the composer and the picture, the image of the respective time period. The Trio Alterna seeks to explore and pursue this path of interpretation.

Picture: Sasha Laguna