Trio orchestrates a spirited Christmas concert
Violinist EmmaLee Holmes-Hicks, violist Anna Griffis and cellist Soobin Kong performed at the North Branch Library on Saturday, Dec. 6. Photo by Abby Van Selous
The trio are all musicians with the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra. Photo by Julie Torres
Violinist EmmaLee Holmes-Hicks, violist Anna Griffis and cellist Soobin Kong performed at the North Branch Library on Saturday, Dec. 6. Photo by Abby Van Selous
The trio are all musicians with the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra. Photo by Julie Torres
A cello, a viola and a violin were all it took to herald in the Christmas season at the North Branch Library.
On Saturday, Dec. 6, a trio from the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra performed for an audience packed into the library’s community room in an event that was organized by the Friends of the Dartmouth Libraries.
“[It was] such a great audience,” said violinist EmmaLee Holmes-Hicks. “They were all really into it and engaged.”
Holmes-Hicks, violist Anna Griffis and cellist Soobin Kong performed classic Christmas hymns, popular songs and pieces from The Nutcracker, and also mixed in two non-holiday pieces to expand the program.
“We thought we would expand the program a little bit by adding some sort of standard trio because we needed to fill some time, and also because it’s a great opportunity to play as a trio,” Griffis said.
The trio supplemented the holiday tunes with a piece by Franz Schubert and another piece by Joseph Haydn.
“Schubert and Haydn are very familiar composers, so they make people feel good and light and friendly,” Griffs said.
Holmes-Hicks noted this is the case with many classical pieces.
“There’s something very accessible and warm and friendly and open about [classical music], so that was really what we were going for,” she said.
The holiday concert was also one of Kong’s firsts with the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra.
“I love this atmosphere, really welcoming and warm hearted, so I think it’s a really good start for me,” she said.
Holmes-Hicks has been playing in the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra for 13 years and said she enjoys playing in smaller venues and in libraries.
“I think it’s great to perform in a space like this because you can see the audience. You can really connect with them … and just see their faces actually reacting to what we’re doing,” she said.
She added, “And it’s fun to be able to connect with them more intimately like that, and this space was really nice to play in too. It has a nice sound to it. It’s a friendly space to play in.”
