The Trio

Oboist Helene Kenyeri, clarinetist Mirjam Schiestl and bassoonist Marion Biber-Janda founded the Trio Mignon Vienna in 2005. The trio’s name “Mignon” (French for “cute” or “sweet”) gives you a taste of the tone, colour and character of its repertoire.

This special ensemble style is called trio d’anches in French (which translates to “reed trio”) and established itself as a chamber music fixture in France at the beginning of the 20^th century. This was also due to the fact that famous composers such as Francis Poulenc, Darius Milhaud and Jean Françaix composed works for this very special combination of instruments.

After only a short period of playing together, the Trio Mignon Wien were already on the road to success. In 2006, the ensemble won the music competition „Musica Iuventutis“, allowing them to present themselves and give their debut concert in the Schubertsaal at the Konzerthaus Vienna in autumn of 2007 in front of a wide and diverse audience. The trio regularly perform in Austria and around the world, even playing as soloist-trio with the Bad Reichenhaller Philharmonie orchestra in 2009. Their current programme was debuted at “Die Reihe”, which then led them to opening the “Badener Beethoven Tage“ 2018 in collaboration with Otto Brusatti.

The Trio Mignon Wien’s repertoire ranges from Renaissance and Baroque music, artfully arranged for the trio, to contemporary music. However, the trio’s core repertoire consists of original works from the 20^th century and contemporary music from collaborations with, primarily, Austrian composers. In the contemporary works they play, they strive to push the boundaries of the trio d’anches to include even the auxiliary instruments cor anglais, bass clarinet and contrabassoon.Of course, first and foremost, it is the trio’s passion for this special ensemble style, for the wondrous, bewitching and beautiful sound that has led them from place to place to meet and inspire people from around the world.