The Hope College Great Performance Series will welcome back the Ahn Trio on Friday, Jan. 26, at 7:30 p.m. in Dimnent Memorial Chapel.

The ground-breaking piano trio, featuring the Juilliard-trained Ahn sisters, sold out its 2002 appearance on the series.

The Ahn Trio has been recognized as breaking the boundaries of traditional classical music and bringing new audience members to the genre. Originally from South Korea, violinist Angella, and the twins, pianist Lucia and cellist Maria, came to the United States to further their musical studies.

"A dominant musical gene has obviously left its imprint on the Ahn sisters," "The Los Angeles Times" has said.

The sisters earned awards and critical acclaim for their recordings of Maurice Ravel, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Antonin Dvorak, and Dmitri Shostakovich.

The trio's first recording, which included works by Dvorak and Shostakovich, won the ECHO Award, Germany's most coveted recording prize. "This enormously stimulating performance will be one to return to again and again," said "BBC Music."

Not content with success in one area, the Ahn sisters have committed themselves to reaching new audiences and performing works by living or modern composers. Their upcoming CD, "Lullaby for My Favorite Insomniac," features works by Michael Nyman, Kenji Bunch, Astor Piazzoloa, and David Bowie. The recording is being launched on the Ahn sisters' own new record label, LAMP, an innovative and exciting recording venture continuing with their new music performances, often with guest artists.
Other recent recordings by the Ahn Trio include "Ahn-Plugged," and "Groovebox," both released on EMI.

The Ahn Trio recently performed with the Tata Boys at the Czech Grammy Awards in Prague. Other performances on the Ahn Trio's schedule have included Slovenia, Turkey, two tours in Hawaii, Bermuda, St. Thomas, a month-long tour of Sweden, Korea and others. Future tour plans abroad include Korea, China and Europe. During the upcoming season the trio's schedule includes a return engagement to the prestigious Wolf Trap in Virginia, as well as performances in colleges, universities, many renowned venues across the country, and a return to Sweden and Vienna.
The sisters' outreach to new audience members has resulted in a variety of appearances. They have been featured on NBC and PBS, in the pages of "The New York Times," "GQ," "Vogue," "Town and Country," and recently in GAP ads.

In 2003, the Ahn Trio was included in "People Magazine's" "Most Beautiful" issue. The issue highlights the most beautiful and accomplished people of the year according to "People Magazine," and the sisters were the only classical musicians among the 50 people selected.
Their performance at Hope will feature works either written or transcribed specifically for the Ahn Trio. Works include "Divertissement for Piano Trio, Op. 126," by Nikolai Kapustin; "Dies Irie" and "Slow Dance," by Kenji Bunch; "Contacto Permanente," by Fernando Otero; and "Big My Secret," from "The Piano," by Michael Nyman.
The sisters will also play their popular version of "Riders on the Storm," by the rock group "The Doors," as transcribed by Michal Rataj.

In addition to performing at Hope College, the Ahn Trio will be doing an educational program with fourth and fifth graders at Jefferson School in Holland. The program is being supported by the Hope College Patrons for the Arts.

More information on the Ahn Trio can be found at www.ahntrio.com, or on the group's MySpace account at www.myspace.com/ahntrio. Information on the Hope College Great Performance Series can be found at www.hope.edu/gps.

Tickets for the Jan. 26 performance are $16 for regular admission, $12 for senior citizens, and $5 for children 18 and under. Tickets may be purchased at the ticket office in the main lobby of the DeVos Fieldhouse, which is open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and can be called at (616)395-7890.

Dimnent Memorial Chapel is located at 277 College Avenue, at the corner of 12th Street. The DeVos Fieldhouse is located at 222 Fairbanks Avenue, between Ninth and 11th streets.