I remember the first time someone asked me, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” I was around five years old and can honestly say I had never pondered the question. I thought for a moment, and replied, “I’m going to own Taco Bell.” We all have had different answers to this question at different times:  for some it would be astronaut or a pilot; for others an explorer, treasure hunter, or deep sea diver. I wonder, though, how many of us actually went on to become what we had dreamed of as children For three talented musicians, Tatiana Berman, Ilya Finkelshteyn, and Yael Senamaud, their journeys all began around the age of five, and a little over a year ago their paths crossed when they formed the Constella Trio.  The Trio performed this past Sunday at HUC as part of HUCinci’s Concerts on Clifton series.

The Constella Trio: Tatiana Berman, Ilya Finkelshteyn and Yael Senamaud

Tatiana Berman, born in Moscow, grew up in a musical family; her father was a renowned pianist and she used to attend his concerts. She loved to listen to all the different instruments, and at the age of four she fell in love with the violin.  Tatiana was gifted one by her uncle, and began her own musical studies at the age of five at the St. Petersburg Specialized Music School in St. Petersburg, Russia. After studying at the Yehudi Menuhin School in the United Kingdom and the Royal College of Music in London, she finally arrived at the College Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati.  Tatiana was described by The Strad as “a young violinist with a mature and compelling musical personality.” Tatiana exudes this enthusiasm and passion each time she picks up the violin and engages in a piece of music.

 Ilya Finkelshteyn was born into a Russian Jewish family and also began his musical education around the age of five with the cello at the St. Petersburg Specialized Music School, although he and Tatiana did not meet until they played together in Cincinnati. After immigrating to the United States, he studied one year at the University of Minnesota School of Music and six years at the Julliard School, where he was a member of the string quartet. Ilya is currently the principal cellist of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and was praised by the Washington Post as a “complete master of his instrument.” For the show at HUC, he was grateful for a chance to play Trio (Terezin 1944), composed by Gideon Klein, a Czech pianist killed during the Holocaust at Auschwitz in 1945. “Hebrew Union College is a good place to play this piece,” he said, “it is important to remember those that were killed.”

Yael Senamaud grew up in France and began her musical studies of the viola at the Conservatoire de Paris. She continued her learning at the Peabody Institute at John Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, and then returned to Paris where she started her professional life playing the viola in an orchestra. Three years ago Yael moved to Cincinnati where began to pursue her love of chamber music: “Chamber music is something special, and I wanted to give up some time for this.” This Sunday, Yael is looking forward to playing Kol Nidrei by Bonia Shur, a renowned composer and past Director of Liturgical Arts at Hebrew Union College. She met Bonia when she first moved to Cincinnati and feels it is a double privilege to play his music in celebration of his birthday.

Sunday’s standing room only performance was nothing short of gorgeous as Yael Senamaud played the world premiere performance of Bonia Shur’s Kol Nidre on the viola. Next in the program, Tatiana Berman joined her to play a Mozart duet.  Then Ilya Finkelshteyn brought in his cello and the three played chamber pieces by Schubert, Beethoven, Gideon Klein and Erno Dochnanyi.  Gideon Klein’s piece proved to be a very poignant moment as it was played in front of HUCinci’s wooden Torah Ark, which had been rescued from Poland, further reinforcing the idea that the piece’s creator was unfortunately not saved.  Most everyone gathered afterward in the Teller Lounge to greet the musicians with the lovely scent of mulled cider in the air. 

The next HUCinci Concert on Clifton is a sing-along history of Broadway songs called The Day After Anatevka with Rabbi Ken Kanter and The HUCinci Theater Ensemble.