The Iris Trio, together with celebrated Canadian poet, Don McKay (Governor General’s Award, Griffin Poetry Prize) presents the “Blue Chapter” of their multi-year “Project Earth,” including stunning new works by McKay and Juno-nominated composer/jazz pianist Florian Hoefner. Project Earth is the Trio’s response to the triple planetary crisis. Through newly commissioned poetry and genre-crossing chamber music, the project strives to illuminate the impact of human behavior on the environment, addressing issues of climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss, while recognizing the power of our collective imagination to create meaningful change. Celebrated for their imaginative programming and powerhouse performances, this evening with the Iris Trio (clarinetist Christine Carter, violist Zoë Martin-Doike, and pianist Anna Petrova) will mark the ensemble’s debut at the National Arts Centre.

Christine Carter

Canadian clarinetist Christine Carter has performed at venues across the globe, from Carnegie Hall to the Sydney Opera House. Highlights have included performances at the Mozarthaus in Vienna, German Consulate in New York City, and Palffy Palace in Prague. She has been praised for her “special passion and inspiration” (Augsburger Allgemeine), “seductive tone and effortless fluidity” (The Clarinet), and “golden legato” (Fanfare Magazine). Christine has also performed extensively as an orchestral musician, including engagements with the New World Symphony (Miami), Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra, YouTube Symphony Orchestra, and Metropolitan Opera Orchestra (New York), as well as under the batons of some of the world’s finest conductors, such as Lorin Maazel, Michael Tilson Thomas, Kent Nagano, and Fabio Luisi.

Zoë Martin-Doike

Violinist/violist Zoë Martin-Doike is an exciting and versatile artist who engages in a wide variety of musical activities. A passionate chamber musician, Zoë was a founding violinist of the Aizuri Quartet which garnered top prizes at the Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition and held residencies at the Curtis Institute of Music and the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia while she was a member. Zoë is currently Acting Assistant Principal Viola of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in New York City, and has also frequently joined the Philadelphia Orchestra for tours of Europe and Asia.

Anna Petrova

Bulgarian pianist, Anna Petrova, praised for her “artistic, clear and enlightened” performances (BBC Magazine), performs extensively as a soloist and chamber musician and is Assistant Professor of Piano at University of Louisville, Kentucky. Recent highlights include her New York debut with conductor Philippe Entremont, a recording of Stravinsky’s Les Noces with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra and conductor JoAnn Falletta (NAXOS, 2016), and solo and chamber music residencies in festivals across North America, Europe and China. Currently, she is working on a two-CD set of the complete piano sonatas of Russian composer, pianist and pedagogue, Samuil Feinberg for NAXOS. Petrova holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Manhattan School of Music and is the Artistic Director of Alberto Jonás International School of Music in Valencia, Spain.