7/9/2024 At the 6th APA International Chamber Music Festival (4/13/2024), played Brahms Piano Trio op114 at Koganei Miyaji Gakki Hall, Tokyo

In this occasion I played Brahms Piano Trio op114 with Kazuyuki Torii (piano) and Dr. Steffen Luitz (cello). Steffen was visiting Japan for the first time, and is a cellist who plays piano trios with me in the US. It was easy to play ensembles with Steffen because we knew each other's style. I asked Torii-san, a professional level pianist, who played Mendelssohn piano trio op 66 last year with me, to play Brahms this year. It was a lot of fun.

Norm, a pianist who plays piano trios with us in the US, also participated in the festival from the US. He gave an enthusiastic performance of Schumann's Piano Quintet op44 with Japanese musicians. It is a very difficult task for amateurs to bring the five of them to a performance level with such limited rehearsal time. They did a fine job.

This stay in Japan was a particularly enjoyable memory for each of us.