The Templeton Trio at St. Luke’s was formed by three professional musicians who love the musical collaboration between piano and strings. They have all had extensive experience in chamber music, solo performances, conducting and teaching, and 4 years ago they came together to play some of their favorite music. They enjoyed it so much that they continued to meet, and the Templeton Trio was born. They soon formed a partnership with St. Luke’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, where they rehearse and play regularly. The first part of the Trio’s name is in honor of the pianist’s cat Templeton, who was the only one her three cats that did not show disdain when they played at her home for the first time.  

                                        The Templeton Trio at St. Luke’s

    Robert Sorel, violin

           Teresa Shirley-Quirk, cello

       Kris Faatz, piano

Piano Trio in D Major, Op. 70 No. 1 “Ghost”     Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

Allegro vivace e con brio

Largo assai ed espressivo

Presto

         INTERMISSION

Piano Trio No. 1 in d minor, Op. 49     Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)

Molto allegro ed agitato

Andante con moto tranquillo

Scherzo

Finale

Violinist Robert Sorel has been a featured soloist with the Washington Bach Symphonia and the New England Chamber Players, and has given numerous recitals throughout the New England and the Washington, D.C. area. He has been an orchestra member of the New York City Opera Touring Company, Capital Chamber Players, the Maryland Symphony, Millbrook Chamber Orchestra, Arlington Symphony, Concert Artists of Baltimore, York Symphony Orchestra, Apollo Orchestra, DC., the Rhode Island Philharmonic, Boston Civic Orchestra and at the Newport Jazz Festival, Newport, RI. He is a former faculty member of the Levine School of Music in Washington, D.C., the Shenandoah Conservatory of Music’s Community Arts Program and the Conservatory’s Summer Music Camp, Trinity University in Washington, D.C. and has been a faculty member for the Washington DC Youth Orchestra Program. Robert has a private studio, The Violin Studio, in Baltimore. 

Cellist Teresa Shirley-Quirk has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the prestigious Fulbright Lectureship Award. Reviewers have described her playing as “a revelation…truly beautiful”, “An inexhaustible palette of colors, tones, and sonorities.” She was a recording artist for Golden Strings of Hong Kong and First Impression Music in the U.S. (under the name Teresa Perez) for over a decade. Her first recording on the Golden Strings Label, Crossover Cello, was named “Best New Recording” by Stereophile Magazine in 1996. For 16 years, she served as the Solo and Principal Cellist of the Conductor’s Institute Orchestra in residence at the Hartt School of Music, and later at Bard College in New York. A graduate of the Peabody Conservatory, Teresa has also been a faculty member of the Peabody Preparatory Department and the Baltimore School for the Arts “Twigs” program.

Pianist Kris Faatz holds bachelor’s degrees in music and engineering from Swarthmore College and and a  master’s degree in piano performance and pedagogy from the Peabody Conservatory, where she studied with Brian Ganz. She has been a faculty member of the Peabody Institute Preparatory Department, and a Lecturer in the Peabody Institute Elderhostel program. She currently serves as choir director of First Presbyterian Church in Bel Air and teaches music and creative writing classes online and at the Community College of Baltimore County. She is an award-winning writer of fiction, with one novel in print, another forthcoming in 2022, and short stories in a number of literary journals. Visit her online at krisfaatz.com.