The Mifune Tsuji Trio – Mifune Tsuji (violin), Jin Theriault (saxophone), Paul Jackson (piano) – was formed in 2012, giving its first performance at the Festival of Ideas, in Cambridge, UK. At that time, very few groups used this instrumental combination and, consequently, there was little by way of original music available. The trio immediately sought to expand the repertoire by commissioning new works and arrangements, in addition to making adaptions of existing music. Since 2012, they have given premiere performances of works by Paul Frankhuijzen, Nimrod Borenstein, Kevin Flanagan, Paul Rhys, Graham Lynch, and Simone Spagnolo, whilst making new arrangements of music by Percy Grainger, Igor Stravinsky, Béla Bartók, Dmitri Shostakovich, Darius Milhaud, Camille Saint-Saëns, and Astor Piazzolla.
With a focus on, but not limited to, twentieth-century and new music, their dynamic and virtuosic performances have been met with great enthusiasm by audiences, who regularly express surprise and delight at the effectiveness of this particular combination of instruments, and the range of expression of which it is capable.
if you would like to book the Mifune Tsuji Trio, please use the contact form. Upcoming concerts for the trio are listed in the Calendar.
Personnel
Mifune Tsuji (violin) was a prize winner of the 1st Reina Sofia International Competition in Madrid, and has performed as a soloist and chamber musician throughout Europe, Asia, America, and Canada. She developed her style and technique under some of the world’s leading violinists and teachers, including Toyoko Hattori, Yoshio Unno, Alberto Lysy, Yehudi Menuhin, and Rustislav Dubinsky. She has always striven to extend her art to its limits by close collaboration with the most outstanding and significant modern composers, including Iannis Xenakis, John Cage, Morton Feldman, Michael Nyman, Luca Francesconi, James Dashow, and Vinko Globokar. In describing the collaboration and artistry Mifune brought to his pieces, Xenakis wrote that ‘she is a wonderful violinist, allying technical mastery with an exceptional musicianship.’
Jin Theriault (saxophone) achieved a master’s degree with distinction at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance in classical saxophone, studying with Gerard McCrystal and Melanie Henry. Jin is often called upon to perform orchestral saxophone with professional ensembles, such as Covent Garden Sinfonia, whilst also performing regularly at festivals in the UK and abroad. Throughout his career, Jin has been heavily involved in music education across all ages and abilities and has taught and led in multiple schools across London. He has tutored at Aldeburgh Young Musicians and his students have won regional and national competitions. Jin performs with the multi-award-winning progressive brass band Perhaps Contraption, touring Europe and the USA.
Paul Jackson (piano) is a pianist, conductor, teacher and musicologist who was, for over 20 years, Head of Music and Performing Arts and Director of Music and Performance at Anglia Ruskin University. He has been active as an exponent of contemporary music for many years, as a pianist and a conductor, and has commissioned and performed many works by leading composers. As a chamber music pianist, he has performed with saxophonist Damian Royannais, marimba player Daniela Geneva, thereminist and ondes Martenot player Charlie Draper, and The Mifune Tsuji Trio. For many years he conducted the Anglia Ruskin Orchestra and Chorus, the contemporary music group Anglia Sinfonia, and the opera company Anglia Opera. He is currently Musical Director for Haslingfield Choir. Paul is also a leading expert on the life and music of the Australian composer Percy Grainger and is Editor of The Grainger Journal and President of the Percy Grainger Society, based in New York.
Repertoire List
Archer – Sonata for Saxophone and Piano
Bach – Sonata in A major, BWV 1015
Bartók – Contrasts
Bloch – Nigun
Borenstein – Confession*
Borenstein – Quasi una cadenza
Bozza – Aria
Britten – Six Metamorphoses After Ovid
Cage – Music For…
Chambers – Come Down Heavy
Clark – Dumka
Constantinides – Music for Cyprus
Corelli – La Follia
Eychenne – Cantilène et Danse
Flanagan – Trio*
Frankhuijzen – slow intensity*
Gardel – Por una cabeza
Glass – Knee Play 2
Gotkovsky – Brilliance
Grainger – Bridal Lullaby
Grainger – Colonial Song
Gregory – Interference
Halvorsen – Passacaglia
Jackson – Brilliant Bursts of Climacteric Splendor*
Jacobson – The Orang-u-Tango
Ligeti – Musica Ricercata IX (Béla Bartók in Memoriam)
Lynch – Arche-51, Arche-24, Arche-19 (Briza), Arche-7
Lynch – Couperin on the Road*
Lynch – French Concerto*
Lynch – Three Cut-Outs
Ko – Plush Earth in Four Pieces
Messiaen – Louange à l’Immortalité de Jésus
Milhaud – Suite
Miyagi – Haro No Umi
Noda – Fuschicho
Penderecki – Cadenza
Peterson – Changes
Peterson – Trio
Peterson – Tribute Trio
Piazzolla – Chau Paris (arr. Jackson*)
Piazzolla – Concerto (arr. Theriault*)
Piazzolla – Escualo
Piazzolla – Libertango (arr. Mifune Tsuji Trio*)
Piazzolla – Le Grand Tango
Piazzolla – Resurrección del Angel (arr. Jackson*)
Previn – Tango Song and Dance
Rachmaninoff – Vocalise
Ravel – Trio
Resanovic – Trio
Rhys – For Ed and Emily*
Saint Saëns – Danse Macabre (arr. Theriault*)
Schulhoff – Hot-Sonata
Shinohara – Turns
Shostakovich – Five Pieces
Spagnolo – Drops of Candlewax
Spagnolo – Non ho dormito questa notte mai*
Stravinsky – Suite from l’Histoire du Soldat
Stravinsky – Tango
Takemitsu – Distance de Fée
Takemitsu – Rain Tree Sketch II
Takemitsu – Rocking Mirror Daybreak
Traditional – Karatachi-no-hana
Traditional – Medieval Lamentation (arr. Jackson)
* indicates a Mifune Tsuji Trio commission and first performance.
Concerto for Quintet – Astor Piazzolla