What we are about

Classical music is for everyone. And we believe that music should be fresh and exciting. The world we live in is always changing and the way people listen to live music is changing too. Musicians are increasingly performing in unconventional venues and presenting classical repertoire in imaginative ways. We think this is a positive development and want to be part of it.

Our love for chamber music and open minds are what brought us together as a group, and although our roots draw on the classical tradition, we are not shy to experiment with different art forms and genres, and exploring new repertoire through original transcriptions.

Take3

Based in Berlin, the piano trio Take3 was formed in 2013. The members, Eugene Nakamura (violin), Norbert Anger (cello), and Avan Yu (piano), met as students at the Berlin University for the Arts. With a deep interest in chamber music and a desire to bring classical music to younger audiences, they trained under the guidance of the renowned Artemis Quartet. Their passion for music extends beyond chamber music, as each member is also an accomplished soloist who performs in prestigious halls, with renowned orchestras around the globe and has won prizes in major international competitions.

Avan Yu

Avan achieved international recognition as he won the first prize along with nine special prizes at the 2012 Sydney International Piano Competition. Orchestras and conductors worldwide have invited Avan to perform as soloist, including Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos and the Dresdener Philharmoniker, Pinchas Zukerman and the National Arts Center Orchestra in Ottawa, and Bramwell Tovey and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. He has performed solo recitals at the Carnegie Hall (Weill Recital Hall), Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Salle Cortot in Paris and at the Auditorio Nacional de Música in Madrid as well as appearing in broadcasts worldwide. He is currently planning recording projects with Naxos and ABC Classics. Avan was born in 1987 in Hong Kong and became a Canadian citizen at the age of 9. He entered Prof. Klaus Hellwig’s studio at the University of the Arts in Berlin in 2007, and previously studied with Kenneth Broadway and Ralph Markham in Vancouver. British Columbia Arts Council as well as the Canada Council for the Arts has offered Avan generous support.

Eugene Nakamura

Eugene, born in Canada in 1985, has recently won the audition for Principal Second Violin of the Staatsoper Hannover, and will begin his position from 2014 onwards. Since making his solo debut with orchestra at the age of 9 with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra, Eugene has performed as soloist with orchestras in Canada and the US, including the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and the Windsor Symphony Orchestra. He gave his first solo recital at the age of 13 at the Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto and has since given recital programmes in Canada, Germany, UK and Japan. He is a prize winner of international competitions including the Concours Long-Thibaud in Paris and the Fritz Kreisler Competition in Vienna, and has been a recipient of the Orford String Quartet Scholarship and a Canada Arts Council grant. He has performed in major halls such as the Konzerthaus Wien Großer Saal, Place des Arts in Montreal, and the Berliner Philharmonie. His teachers include Nora Chastain at the University of the Arts in Berlin and Vladimir Landsman in Montreal, in addition to receiving masterclasses from Pinchas Zukerman, Maxim Vengerov, Ivry Gitlis and Pamela Frank.

Norbert Anger

Norbert has enjoyed a series of recent successes - after winning prizes at the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, at the Concours Rostropovich in Paris and at the PAULO Cello Competition in Helsinki, he has most recently won the position as principal cellist of the Staatskapelle Dresden and will begin his season in that role in the 2013/14 season. Norbert was born in 1987 in Freital, Germany, and during his youth studied at the Special School for Music “Carl-Maria-von-Weber” in Dresden. He has continued his studies at the University of the Arts in Berlin under Prof. Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt, as well as taking part in masterclasses by David Geringas, Heinrich Schiff and Sir Colin Davis. Other competition success include winning the “Vibrarte” Competition in Paris and the “Domenico Gabrielli” Competition in Berlin. In 2012 he released a debut CD with works by Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann, and Debussy. He has appeared as soloist with orchestras such as the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra, Staatskapelle Dresden, Orchestre de Paris and the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn.