Welcome to the Upton Trio Website!
The site is dedicated to our classical piano trio that is known for playing absolutely new original music. Our composer, Mary Lee Taylor Kinosian writes with the modern sensibilities of Stravinsky, the eloquence of Prokofiev, and the heart and soul of Gershwin. Please take some time to explore the site and get to know more about our trio.
“They make classical music fun …”
Michael Miller The State
Recent and Upcoming Events
2023
SUNDAY, JULY 23
3:00 p.m.
MEPKIN ABBEY
MONKS CORNER, SC
This is a private concert.
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TUESDAY, MAY 16
ARTS CENTER OF KERSHAW COUNTY
BLACK BOX THEATRE
810 LYTTLETON ST., CAMDEN, SC 29020
(803) 425-7676
6:00 PM Cocktails & Heavy hors d'oeuvres
7:00 PM Concert
$50 per person
Reservations: Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
The Upton Trio’s concert will begin with the warm embrace of unbounded love evoked in “Mother and Child” by William Grant Still, the first black American composer to be performed by major orchestras and opera houses. Mary Lee Kinosian, a living SC composer’s “Amazon Harmony" will invoke the birds, mist, water and trees of our world’s greatest rainforest. We will then conclude with musical evidence of things unseen. Franz Peter Schubert’s second piano trio is a vision of heaven.
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SUNDAY, APRIL 30
3:00 PM
ARTS CENTER OF KERSHAW COUNTY
DOUGLAS REED HOUSE
810 LYTTLETON ST., CAMDEN, SC 29020
This concert by the Upton Trio is in partnership with The Kershaw County Music Association for Kershaw County School District’s gifted and talented SEAGUL students and the private music students of the County and their teachers and parents, as space allows.
Seating is limited to 60 people.
This is a free concert.
TUESDAY, APRIL 25
SAINT JOHN NEUMANN CATHOLIC CHURCH
POLO RD., COLUMBIA, SC 29223
(803) 788-0811
FREE EVENING CONCERT
Reception immediately following
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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12
STILL HOPES RETIREMENT COMMUNITY
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MARCH 10th, 11th, & 16th
AMAZON HARMONY-THE BREATH OF LIFE EDUCATION PROGRAM
NORTH CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL, CAMDEN HIGH SCHOOL, LUGOFF-ELGIN HIGH SCHOOL
Six performances in partnership with Kershaw County School District. This was a lively and colorful teaching script accompanied by recorded wildlife sounds of the Amazon Rainforest, in tandem with PowerPoint slides, was delivered by Regina MacDonald, coordinator for KCSD Arts. Her delivery was full of humor and serious scientific information. That information clearly listed facts of the necessity for Amazon Rainforest conservation. Larger than the contiguous U.S., the Rainforest inhales carbon and and exhales oxygen.
For the musicians, the performing process revealed wonderful musical surprises. Powerful crescendos and majestic waves of melody emerged that were heretofore hidden in rehearsals. The process of performing is a collaborative exchange among the music, the musicians, and the audience. Everyone experienced the transformative power of original music composed for the KCSD students by Mary Lee Kinosian.
2022
Monday, November 18, 2019
Upton Trio in Concert
STORIES & STYLE
1011 GALLERIA - 1011 BROADT ST.
CAMDEN, SC
6:00 P.M. COCKTAILS & HEAVY HOR D’OEUVRES - 7:00 P.M. CONCERT
THE CONCERT PROGRAM INCLUDES: The world premiere of Sadie’s Lullaby by Susan LaRoche Kearns, arranged with variations by Mary Lee Kinosian, Strum Me A Story: A Celebration of American Folklore by Mary Lee Kinosian, the Cello Suite in C Major by J.S. Bach and Beethoven’s “Ghost” Trio, Opus 70
$50 per person
Cash or check to Trio personnel
2019 Concert Series Underway
First concert May 13 was great success! Premiered Mary Lee Kinosian's "Astronomical Wonders." The performance of the greatest French Trio brought audience instantly to their feet, whooping!
Second concert will be close to Halloween, Monday October 28 - Party 6:00 PM - delicious food & complimentary bar - Concert 7:00 PM, Program includes: John Musto's Piano Trio & Beethoven's "Ghost" Trio, plus more! Admission $50 at door, reservations by formal invitation.
Check our Facebook page for updates and details for the next concert!
April 30, 2019
Upton Trio Education Program 2019 is underway - Midway Elementary School third, fourth, and fifth graders had the good fortune of hearing a concert this afternoon by Billy Shepherd and the Upton Trio. They were accompanied by members of North Central High School’s drama class.
From Charles King via Facebook: "OUTSTANDING performance! I’m very proud to be a supporter of this effort!"
October 19, 2017
April 20 through May 12, 2017 the Upton Trio presented concerts for students of the Kershaw County School District (KCSD). This series of concerts titled “The American Story,” was the Trio’s 2017 annual educational outreach program. Aligned with the “Standard” curriculum by Dr. Alisa Taylor, Director of Instructional Support Services for KCSD, “The American Story’s” purpose was to improve academic achievement in civics. 9th grade end of course results reveal KCSD 7th and 8th grades were 25 – 30% below expectation. 30% of KCSD middle and high school students were not meeting “Standards” for social studies.
During the seven years of assessed Upton Trio educational Programs, results have consistently improved student achievement in every school within the KCSD. Academic increases will be posted in our next update.
Mary Lee Kinosian, Trio violinist, composed “The American Story.” The first movement is “Genesis.” It conjures the desperate, perilous, anxious transatlantic migration to America from Europe. From the African continent, one can hear the terror and mind numbing experience of those who were kidnapped into slavery. The center of this movement “Amazing Grace” is musically quoted, perhaps to convey the presence of hope in the midst of horror.
The second movement, “Cry in the Wilderness,” is a fervent, blues-based prayer. It begs the question, “When will the lost colonies, failed crops, genocidal epidemics and human slavery end?”
“Muddy Waters Reel,” movement three, dances upon the busy wharves of the Mississippi river. Analogously, the river was America’s first interstate highway. In the composer’s words, “A little boy celebrates the long awaited return of his father, a river boat captain. Ms. Kinsman expresses the boy’s joy by quoting J.S. Bach’s “Jesus, Joy of Man’s Desiring.”
There are “Consequences” (movement four) to just and unjust wars. We all know the price is high and terrible. The composer was compelled to conclude “Consequences” with a repetitious fade into the depths that begs us to question – when will the human family abandon our erroneous idea of separateness?
“Synthesis in Transition: America Becoming America,” the fifth movement reflects our lives today. We are always in an anxious hurry. Not enough time is taken to remember, in still quietness, who we really are. There to reflect on what is of value? Does constant learning, spiritual expansion and above all, love have any place in achieving the American aspiration of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all?
On Monday evening, May 22nd, the Upton Trio presented a concert in our home, Camden, SC at 1011 Galleria, a centrally located venue warmly and colorfully expressive of Camden beautiful heritage. Everyone enjoyed a positively transforming evening! The 6:00 PM pre-concert party and the 7:00 PM concert were hosted by Salud! Tequila Bar and Restaurant, Alphonso Bravo – proprietor and by Vintage Pianos, Stephen Smith – proprietor.
The concert program was: “The American Story” by Mary Lee Kinosian, “Trio Number 4 in C Major, K 548 by Mozart and Trio Number 2 in c minor by Mendelssohn.
During July 2017 through the first week of August the Upton Trio was contracted to perform the workshop phase of a new American musical titled “An Extra Penny.”(music by Mary Lee Kinosian). We lived on a beautiful farm near Raleigh, NC. “An Extra Penny” (link for more information) was presented at Lewisburg College in the Sebby Jones Performing Arts Center. We anticipate the regional theater production.
Music in Landrum, a concert series based in Landrum, SC presented the Trio in concert on Sunday, October 1, 2017. This was our encore performance for a most hospitable and gracious community in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
The program was “Three Nocturnes” by Ernest Bloch, Trio Number 1 in D Minor by Mendelssohn and the American Story by Mary Lee Kinosian.
The Upton Trio will deliver a concert at our home in Camden at 1011 Galleria on Monday evening, October 30. The evening will begin at 6:00, as usual, with a cocktail party including heavy hor d’oeuvres. Musical selections will be Ernest Bloch’s “Three Nocturnes,” 3 pieces for Halloween by Mary Lee Kinosian, 3 Tangos by Astor Piazzolla and Felix Mendelssohn’s romantic masterwork Trio No. I, Opus 49.
The new 2017-18 educational outreach Program and new work commission will be “The Triumph of Engineering” by Mary Lee Kinosian. Premiere of “The Triumph of Engineering” will be April 2017.
February 20, 2015
The Upton Trio presented a sell out house concert at the home of Dr. Jane L. LaRoche, M.D. on February 20, 2015.
Program: “Fantasy Trio # 1” by English composer Frank Bridge
“Elliginton and Gershwin”, aka “Big Band Ballad” by Jazz composer Dick Goodwin
“Journey to Mars” by Mary Lee Kinosian
"These Are Different Times"
November 1, 2009
Albany Records of NY released The Upton Trio's new CD - "These Are Different Times" internationally.