About

London-based Trio Sonorité was founded in 2017 by Özlem Çelik – clarinet, Daryl Giuliano – cello, and Jelena Makarova – piano. Individually, all three musicians have international careers and are all Royal Academy of Music alumnae. 

Although recently formed, the trio has already had a series of successful performances, and has established itself as one of the most exciting chamber music ensembles with a very distinct sound and combination of instruments. 

Trio Sonorité’s recent appearances include recitals for Piano Trio Society, Square Mile Concert Series in London City, King’s Lynn Music Society and live performance and interview on Women’s Radio Station, as part of Classic Women Future Awards.  

As well as performing music of a more traditional nature, the unique combination of clarinet, cello, and piano enables this group to explore new horizons performing lesser-known repertoire of works by 20th and 21st century composers. This includes world-premiere performances, cross-arts collaborations, and performing less familiar works by female composers, which have been historically underrepresented.

As the country recently went into a lockdown, Trio Sonorité took part in a multimedia project funded by Help Musicians Scotland and Lithuanian Council of Culture (Lietuvos Kultūros Taryba), which included socially-distanced online rehearsals and performances of RPS composer’s Rūta Vitkauskaitė’s work “Edge of Time”. Originally written for choir, “Edge of Time” was arranged by the composer for Trio Sonorité and adapted for two different versions of performances, one pre-recorded and presented online and another live, thus making it suitable to perform under the lockdown restrictions. The ensemble consequently premiered the newly arranged work in a livestream recital from the 1901 Arts Club in London, which included art projections by Aimee Birnbaum, a Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour artist. The recital was dedicated to mark Beethoven’s 250^th Birth Anniversary. The programme included “Heads on Sticks” by Colin Riley, previously premiered by the Trio in Hampstead and the recital generated a great online audience, reaching over 1,600 views. The pre-recorded version of Ruta Vitkauskaite’s “Edge of Time” was broadcast online on 17th December 2020.

In the autumn of 2018 Trio Sonorité took part in the Baltic Art Form dance and music World Premiere performance of the “Invisible Effect”, composed by the renowned Latvian composer Platon Buravicky and choreographed by Kirill Burlov. The performance took place at London’s Pleasance Theatre and was supported by the Latvian Ministry of Culture. Daryl, Özlem, and Jelena were joined by Swedish guest soprano Nina Kopparhed and a group of contemporary dancers from around the world.

Trio Sonorité’s future engagements include recitals for the Illuminate Women’s Music concert series, 840 contemporary music series, Blackheath Halls as well as performances in Russia, Canada, Lithuania, and Turkey.