Interview: Grammy-Nominated Neave Trio Visit SFCM for Chamber Music Masterclass

The Gaelic name "Niamh," pronounced "Neave," means "bright," or "radiant"—which is just what the Neave Trio does best.

Visiting SFCM for their November 16 chamber music masterclass, alumni pianist Eri Nakamura ('03), violinist Anna Williams, and cellist Mikhail Veselov have comprised Neave since 2016, celebrating their 10th birthday as a group this year.

Nominated for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance at the 2023 and 2026 GRAMMY awards, the Neave Trio has performed at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Kaatsbaan Summer Festival, Bard Music Festival, Rockport Chamber Music Festival, La Jolla Athenaeum, in addition to appearances in Europe, Japan, and Russia.

Nakamura and Veselov took time before their masterclass to answer questions from the SFCM Newsroom about how they approach teaching the art of chamber music.

SFCM: How do you decide what to focus on when a student or group performs for you in a masterclass setting?
Nakamura: Of course, it depends on how they play, both as an individual and as part of a group, but we always try to focus on the meaning of the music. Not just technically, but an understanding of the musical choices being made and if it'll help to really change, for example, how they sit, to achieve that.

Veselov: I always reflect on my experience as a student and what was helpful to me. There were quite a few masterclasses, to be fair, in both directions—ones I loved and ones that I was sort of traumatized by, for lack of a better word. What wasn't helpful was when a musician would say, 'Well, you have to do this this way,' and when I asked why, they didn't have an answer. So my goal is to give some takeaways for students to be able to apply in performance or rehearsal.

How do you balance your instruction with what a student or group might have heard from their teacher or coach?
Veselov: I know all the preparation's already been done, so I have great respect for that. I'm not coming in like, 'What were you told? Did you have coachings?' I'm just here to say, 'Okay, this is what the piece is. How can we take it to the next level?' But if a student wants to resist and say, 'Well, listen, my teacher told me to play this fingering'—that's great, let's make it work. Let's come back to the music and see why this part isn't clicking with this fingering, right?

Nakamura: At the undergrad or graduate level, you need to hear comments from a fresh set of ears, so just hearing from different people improves your artistry by trying different things. Music is not just one way.

Veselov: It's like when [the Neave Trio] comes together: We have our own ideas when we start rehearsing a piece, and we have to remind ourselves and remember that we're trying to serve the same purpose, right? We're just trying to make the music the best it can be. As a visiting teacher or as a masterclass guest, I ultimately approach as an audience member in that way—what will make this sound best?

What else do you address in groups?
Nakamura: With every masterclass, you never know what you're going to get, right? So you have to shift really quickly with the student's needs. If they want more inspiration than technical advice, we always like to talk about colors and tones. What kind of sound are you aiming for? Not just the trio of violin, cello, and piano sound, but, how would you get a symphonic sound, or a vocal one? How would you sing this piece to get to know the phrasing, tone, timbre, colors?

Veselov: Singing your phrases is such a great technique to take with you. It's something you can always do, even when you don't have your instrument next to you: Just sing your part while you practice your fingerings and where to place the shift. Singing is something that we can always come back to: It's music that is living inside us, even if we're—like us—not good singers by any stretch.

How have you kept this lineup together for 10 years now?
Nakamura: We've become really great friends, and I think trust is the most important, as people and artists

Veselov: Beyond that, you have to share values and priorities. The music cannot be a second thing for anybody, and I think that is the hardest part. You have to have the commitment and all be on the same page. It can be a long runway until you start seeing the results of your work in music, so you have to make sure you're all in it together for the good and bad hard times and have each other's backs.

How do you decide on repertoire to perform and record? The Neave Trio has a record of Astor Piazzolla compositions, for example, which might not be considered "typical" chamber music.

Veselov: We're extremely we're extremely privileged and lucky to work with our record label, Chandos, whom we've been with for ten years now. We love their identity as a label.

For us, it's a collaborative process with A&R [Artists & Repertoire] there and the producer they work with to find what works for them and that we find interesting. A lot of our releases include pieces that are maybe lesser known or performed, and we really love finding those gems that deserve to be heard more. So we come up with a conceptual idea that includes something that might be a discovery for some people and, and propose it to A&R and talk about it. It's a back and forth: [Chandos] sometimes says like, "Oh, well, I don't love this piece" or we may say, "I don't think this works for us right now. Let's try to think in another direction." 

What advice would you give to students who look to your career as a model?
Veselov: Often, especially in conservatories, there's these traditional paths that one thinks if they don't go down it, there's no other way. So my biggest non-musical or artistic advice is to build your own path and not feel like, "Oh, I have to get through this competition, I have to get this residency, I have to get this grant." We're lucky to be in a place where this is so democratized, right? If there's a "there" there, musically, you can always find your own opportunities.

Learn more about studying String and Piano Chamber Music at SFCM.