The Eroica Trio launches the first musical event of the 2007 Bermuda Festival at City Hall tomorrow evening when it presents the first of two concerts, each of which begins at 8 p.m.

The programme will feature works by Jean-Baptiste Loiellet, Shostakovich and Schubert.

Making their Bermuda Festival debut under the Eroica Trio umbrella are Susie Park (violin), Erika Nickrenz (piano) and Sara Sant?Ambrogio (cello). Collectively, the trio enjoys an international reputation based on the beauty of its musicianship, the hallmarks of which are elegance, passion and vivacity. Creating music covering a 300-year span is what gives it a unique identity.

As an all-female trio in what was traditionally an all-male grouping, the Eroica is in the top echelon of a new generation of artists who are changing the face of classical music.

Individually, the women are all top-ranked, award-winning soloists who have performed on many of the world?s most famous stages.

Ms Nickrenzmade her concerto debut at New York?s Town Hall at age 11, and was a featured soloists on the PBD series, ?Live from Lincoln Center?.

She holds both Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the Juilliard School, and was a soloist with the Jupiter Symphony in Lincoln Center?s Alice Tully Hall. In 2003 Ms Nickrenz gave a performance and rang the opening bell for the New York Stock Exchange as part of piano manufacturer Steinway?s 150th anniversary celebration. She has also recorded several CDs and now records exclusively for Angel/EMI classics.

Susie Park, who hails from Sydney, Australia, made her solo debut at age five. The winner of several international violin awards, she graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music with a Bachelor of Music degree, and gained her Artist Diploma at the New England Conservatory. Ms Park has appeared as a soloist with many major orchestras, and in such renowned venues as Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Alice Tully Hall at the Lincoln Center.

The Washington Post hailed her as ?prodigiously talented?.

Sara Sant?Ambrogio is a versatile, medal-winning artist who has toured and performed across the US, Europe and the Middle East. She won a Grammy award for her recording of Bernstein?s ?Arias and Bacaroles?, and has also enjoyed collaborating on rock, pop and jazz CDs, as well as movie soundtracks. Her solo CD, ?Dreaming?, was released in 2004, and her latest CD of the Bach Solo Cello Suites will be released this year.

The Eroica Trio will celebrate its 20th anniversary during the 2007-2008 season with a cross-country bus tour, revisiting many of the smaller presenters who supported it during its early years. The tour will coincide with the release of the Trio?s eighth CD on the EMI label featuring all-American music, including a new, commissioned arrangement of music from ?Porgy and Bess?.

In addition to its demanding concert and recording schedule, theTrio (which takes its name from the Italian word for ?heroic?) is committed to musical education, giving concerts, master classes and special children?s shows at schools and colleges. While in Bermuda, it will hold an event for local students.

The Trio will give a second performance on Thursday evening at City Hall, also beginning at 8 p.m. The programme will feature works by Beethoven, Schoenfield and Brahms. Tickets for both events are $55 for adults, $25 for students. For further information/ticket availability visit the Festival box office adjacent to the ferry terminal building on Front Street between noon and 2 p.m. daily. For telephone bookings during box office hours the number is 296-5774. Or visit website www.bermudafestival.org.