Live@DCC Free Noon Concert, January 9: TriMusica!
On January 9, 2026, Live@DCC Second Friday Noon Concert Series presents TriMusica. TriMusica will perform 2 centuries of clarinet trios, starting with Beethoven’s Op. 11, composed in 1797 when he had just moved to Vienna and was trying to make a name for himself; followed by a work dedicated to and premiered by TriMusica, Bay Area composer Durwin Hsieh’s Mask, composed in 2023 during the pandemic; and concluding with Louise Farrenc’s Op. 44, composed in 1854 while she was the first (and only!) female professor at the Paris Conservatory.
TriMusica, consisting of clarinetist Sandra MacPherson, cellist Susan Lamb Cook and pianist John Cozza, started playing together in 2015 and since then have performed in over 25 concerts together. Their repertoire consists not only of the standard works for their ensemble (Beethoven and Brahms Clarinet Trios), but also arrangements (Mozart Kegelstatt Trio, Bruch Pieces Op. 83, Schumann Fantasiestücke Op. 74) and contemporary works (Rota Trio, Hsieh Elegy for a Sphere, delAguila Tango Trio). TriMusica has also premiered several works commissioned by local composers (Stephen Blumberg Aura in 2016 and Jeffrey Hoover Oneness in 2019).
Sandra Moats McPherson is in wide demand as a clarinetist and educator. She is the professor of clarinet at Sacramento State’s School of Music, Cosumnes River College, and American River College and performs frequently as principal clarinetist and bass clarinetist in numerous Northern California orchestras, including the Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera, and Choral Society Orchestras. She has performed orchestral and chamber music in Eisenstadt and Vienna, Austria as part of the annual Classical Music Festival, as has been on the coaching and performing staff of the InterHarmony Festival in Arcidosso, Italy. Ms. McPherson has extensive experience as a chamber music performer and coach. She has performed with numerous chamber music ensembles at the Harris Center for the Arts, the Crocker Art Museum Sunday Series, Sacramento State’s Festival of New American Music, Chamber Music Alive!, and the Capital Chamber Players Series. Ms. McPherson acts as chamber music coach for the Sacramento, Cal Cap, and Sacramento Youth Symphony Chamber Music Workshops, and maintains an active private teaching studio. Ms. McPherson received degrees from California State University, Fresno and University of California, Santa Barbara in music education, clarinet performance, and musicology, and has published articles on early-American clarinet literature.
Susan Lamb Cook is Faculty Affiliate in cello and chamber music at the University of California, Davis, and a member of the Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera and the Sacramento Choral Society and Orchestra. She has performed as soloist with the Sacramento Philharmonic, the UC Davis Symphony Orchestra, the Reno Philharmonic, the Cairo Symphony (Egypt), the Paradise Symphony, the Camellia Symphony, the American River College Orchestra, and in 2015 was featured as soloist in a Gala Concert in the Esterhazy Palace (Austria) with the Classical Music Festival Orchestra. Currently on faculty at the Saarburg International Music Festival (Germany), she has also served on the artistic staff for the Classical Music Festival (Austria), and the Vianden Festival (Luxembourg). She has completed five concert and teaching tours of China, has performed and given master classes at San Francisco State University, Scripps College, Harvey Mudd College, Marshall University (West Virginia), and Austin College (Texas), and her performances have been featured on National Public Radio and Austrian National Television. She is director of The Great Composers Chamber Music Series and is co-producer with Deborah Pittman of the VITA Academy’s Chevalier Project, an educational program centered on the life of composer Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges.
John Cozza is in demand throughout California as teacher, coach/accompanist, chamber musician, adjudicator and clinician. He has been the Staff Accompanist at Sacramento State University since 2004, and took over as Music Director and Pianist/Organist at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church in Carmichael in January of 2018. A graduate of the University of Southern California, Northwestern University and the Hochschule für Musik in Vienna, Austria, Dr. Cozza was named Director of Accompanying at Baylor University (Waco, TX) in 1994 to design and implement the Masters of Music degree program in Piano Accompanying. Graduates of the program he administrated from 1994-2001 hold teaching and accompanying positions regionally, nationally and internationally. He taught Accompanying and Secondary Piano in the Conservatory of Music at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California from 2004-2018. Collaborating with singers and instrumentalists throughout the United States, Dr. Cozza’s international engagements have included performances as soloist, accompanist and chamber musician.
Event Links
Website: https://go.evvnt.com/3391522-0
