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The Luna Trio set off for the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition 2007 finals this May brimming with high hopes and unfaltering confidence. Our parents believed we would win, our coaches believed we could win, and as a group, we were caught in the middle of these two standpoints. Not wanting to jinx anything, we'd occasionally confide in one another, with caution, that we were definitely good enough to win a prize, if not first. Sometimes, after a particularly rewarding rehearsal, the three of us would even burst into an excited clamor, ("That was SO good!" "We are going to blow the judges away!"), with our loyal coach Susan joining in ("That was really high-level playing today, ladies...bravo!"). During school, I would doodle in the margins of my notebook, counting down the days until we'd show the country what great chamber musicians we were. The first round of the competition went smoothly. We were one of the later groups to play, and got through the second half of Mendelssohn's C Minor Trio Finale and the last two movements of Shostakovich's second trio with great enthusiasm and manageable nerves. It was not much of a surprise when, the next morning, we found that we were one of twelve groups to advance to the Fischoff semi-finals. The shocker was that we had been chosen to perform first. A little dismayed but still undaunted, we immediately retired to a practice room, where we continued to work on our repertoire with renewed zeal. When it came time to perform, we strode onto the stage of Brownson Hall and did our job. The Mendelssohn was as joyous, grand, and inventive as any of us could have hoped, and when the judges stopped us in the middle of Shostakovich's breakneck second movement, we felt choked and incomplete, dying to continue performing. Later, we watched a couple of other groups perform and realized how high Fischoff's standards were. Nevertheless, we felt we had managed to match their level of playing. When it was announced at a banquet later that evening that we had not made the final round, we were bewildered and disappointed.

One of the amazing qualities of the Fischoff competition is that groups who do not advance to the top round are given opportunities to talk with the judges, who are of course incredibly distinguished, accomplished musicians. Not yet realizing that we were being given a chance of a lifetime, my trio and I shared half-commiserating, half-resigned looks, and decided to meet some judges. We ended up staying at the banquet until past midnight. We circled the room, discussing our performances and music in general with various judges. David Ying told us about his own quartet's Fischoff experience (they had not advanced to the final round either). Norman Fischer became the last judge left in the hall as he talked to us about Shostakovich's life. Heidi Castleman confessed to us that if she had her way, we would certainly have been one the top three groups. These encouraging comments and feedback certainly gave us renewed spirit, but more than anything, they showed us the scope of work still possible to be done, the myriad of mysteries left for us to solve, the countless questions about music left for us to answer. After talking with the judges, we talked with one another. In our hotel room, my trio and I discussed chamber music. Never had we been so enthusiastic, so passionate, so inspired. If a deaf spectator were to observe the three of us, sitting on the bed, surrounded by heaps of junk food, chattering earnestly with occasional bursts of laughter, he would guess we were simply three girls gossiping about crushes or parties or other customary teen issues. Ironically, we were, in fact, talking about geniuses like Beethoven and Brahms, the beauty of making music with people we love, the indescribable, inexplicable feeling we all got whenever we locked eyes to play a lush passage in harmony. The next day, a number of groups who did not make the finals flew home early. Mayumi, Tessa, and I sight-read Mendelssohn trios in a University of Notre Dame practice room. I have never had a more uplifting after-competition experience. Partly it was because of the amazing musicians with whom I was lucky enough to share the experience, but I knew it was also due to Fischoff and its extreme dedication to musical education.

In short, our trio entered this competition with high hopes, and we left it with even higher standards and dreams. For that, we are forever grateful to the innumerable individuals who made our trip to South Bend, Indiana, possible.

Jennifer Wey, The Luna Trio (published in June 2007)

N.B. The information contained in this article was correct at time of publication. Please refer to the date the article appeared in our newsletter.