Melbourne Piano Trio has quickly established itself as one of the most dynamic and sought-after chamber music groups in Australia. The trio combines the versatile and unique talents of three young Australian musicians: violinist Ji Won Kim, cellist Chris Howlett and pianist Hoang Pham.

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The Trio’s 2011 season began with debut performances in New York.  On returning to Australia, they completed two national tours at major concert venues in Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane and Melbourne.  As well as touring regionally, the group was invited to perform at Bangalow Music Festival and Government House, Melbourne for the gala opening of the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition.

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Highlights for 2012 include aMother’s Day concert in support of Breast Cancer Network Australia at Melbourne Recital Centre, the inaugural Sanguine Estate Music Festival,and a concert for Friends of the Sydney International Piano Competition, major chamber music series across Australia and tours to Europe andAsia. The Trio has also released two (2)CDs on the Master Performers label.

Ji Won Kim has a flourishing career as a soloist and chamber musician in Australia. She has been a regular concerto soloist with almost every major orchestra in Australia including the Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Queensland, Canberra and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras.

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Ji Won has won many prizes and accolades. In Australia, she was the winner of the SBS Matthew Krel Prize, Australian Concerto and Vocal Competition and ABC Young Performer of the Year Award. She participated in the Kumho Prodigy program for talented violinists and won the Music Journal Competition in Korea. In Europe, she won first prize at the International Johannes Brahms Competition in Austria and second prize at the Bled International Violin Competition and Lisbon International Violin Competition.

Ji Won’s principal teachers have included Mark Mogilevski, Sook Yoon, Nelli Shkolnikova and Alice Waten. She completed a Bachelor of Music at the University of Vienna and a Master of Music degree at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music.

Highlights of Ji Won’s concerto performances include the Dvorak Violin Concerto with the Swietokrzyska Philharmonic, Sibelius Violin Concerto with the Bruckner University Orchestra and Janacek Symphony Orchestra and Brahms Violin Concerto with the Seoul Prime Orchestra.

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Chris Howlett is a recent graduate of the Australian National Academy of Music where he studied under Howard Penny. Chris recently won The Nickson Travelling Scholarship to study for seven months in Vienna, the Gwen Proktor Violoncello for best solo final year solo recital, and the Joyce McKenna Scholarship (2009-2011) to undertake a four-part fellowship with Richard Lester, principal cellist of Chamber Orchestra of Europe and cellist of the Florestan Trio.

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Described as “…one of Australia’s finest emerging talents”, Chris has been a finalist at the prestigious Trio di Trieste International Competition, also winning the Northern Trieste award for best performance of the set work. In the 2009Asia/Pacific Chamber Music Competition, Chris was a member of the group that was runner up in the trio section and wonthe audience prize for most popular trio.

Chris has performed concerti with both symphonic and chamber orchestras in Milan, Rome, Paris, Estonia and most recently made his solo debut in London as guest of the Tait Foundation, and in Dubai for the Dubai International Concert Committee. Chris is Festival Director of the Sanguine Estate Music Festival and a 3MBS Board Member.  He performs on aThomas Kennedy English Cello made in 1820.

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Hoang Pham, a Melbourne pianist was born in Vietnam and moved to Australia with his parents at an early age. Hoang frequently appears in all the leading Australian recital series.  He has performed with the Melbourne, Queensland and Tasmania Symphony Orchestras and at venues in England, the USA and France. At the 2011 New Zealand International Piano Festival in Auckland, he performed and gave a masterclass. Hoang has also served as a jury member of the Piano/Ohio Competition.

Hoang has been a prize winner at the Bosendorfer, Cleveland, Hilton Head and

Sydney International Piano Competitions. In the latter, he was judgedBest Australian Pianist. He won the inaugural Melbourne Recital Centre Great Romantics Competition and prior to this, the Lev Vlassenko Piano Competition.

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After childhood piano instruction from his pianist and guitarist father, Hoang studied privately with Rita Reichman and at the Australian National Academy of Music.His most recent studies were at the Manhattan School of Music with Marc Silverman where he completed both his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees.