Paloma Kouider piano
Julien Dieudegard violin
Louis Rodde cello
Trio Karénine was founded in Paris in 2009 by three young musicians and friends. In reference to the passion and vital momentum that characterize her, they chose to take the name of Tolstoy’s famous heroine, Anna Karenina. Since its beginnings more than ten years ago, the ensemble has steadily risen to prominence, now performing on some of the world’s most prestigious stages: the Frick Collection in New York, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Konzerthaus in Berlin, and the Philharmonie de Paris.
Soon after their meeting, the three musicians joined the class of the Ysaÿe Quartet at the CRR in Paris. This training gave them a taste for the homogeneity of a shared sound, much like that cultivated by string quartets. Their thirst for excellence and stylistic exploration later led them to work with other great musicians: Menahem Pressler, Alfred Brendel, Hatto Beyerle, Ferenc Rados, Jean-Claude Pennetier, Johannes Meissl, Avedis Kouyoumdjian, as well as the members of the Trio Wanderer, who guided and enriched their chamber music sensibilities.
After winning first prize at the Charles Hennen Competition in the Netherlands, the Pro Musicis Prize and the Oulmont Foundation Prize, the trio went on in 2013 to win the prestigious ARD International Competition in Munich, an award that brought the young ensemble to international attention and marked a turning point in its career.
Already familiar with the French stage (Pleyel, Auditorium du Louvre…), the trio then took to concert halls abroad (Sydney Opera House, Wigmore Hall in London, Salle Bourgie in Montreal, Herkulessaal and Prinzregententheater in Munich, Laeiszhalle in Hamburg, Auditorium of the Forbidden City in Beijing), and made its debut in prestigious festivals (La Roque d’Anthéron, Rencontres Musicales d’Évian, La Folle Journée in Nantes, Tokyo and Warsaw, Flâneries Musicales de Reims, Chopin Festival in Nohant…). The TV channel Arte also invited the three musicians to perform in its series Stars von Morgen hosted by Rolando Villazon. Happy to collaborate with other artists, the trio has performed with Adrien La Marca, Marie Chilemme, Hélène Clément, Alena Baeva, Raphaël Sévère… notably at the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (Germany), which awarded them the Nordmetall-Ensemble Prize in 2015 for their interpretation of Schubert’s Trout Quintet, alongside Krzysztof Chorzelski (Belcea Quartet) and Laurène Durantel.
Deeply engaged with contemporary music, Trio Karénine was the dedicatee of Allées sombres by Benoît Menut. In 2020, the trio premiered a work by Franck Krawczyk at the Théâtre des Bouffes-du-Nord in Paris as part of La Belle Saison, as well as a trio by clarinetist Raphaël Sévère. In the 2021–2022 season, they premiered and recorded a new Triple Concerto by Benoît Menut with the Royal Chamber Orchestra of Wallonia and Vahan Mardirossian, alongside Philippe Hersant’s triple concerto Le Chant de l’Isolé.
Trio Karénine has recorded for the Mirare label: the Schumann trios (2016), a rediscovery of Germaine Tailleferre’s trio alongside Ravel and Fauré (2018), and an album of Eastern European music (2019), all widely acclaimed by the international press (5 Diapasons, 5 stars from Classica, Gramophone Magazine, nomination for the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik…), followed by an album of transcriptions of works by Schönberg, Liszt and Schumann (2021 – Choc Classica). In 2023, two albums were released: a juxtaposition of works by Dvořák and Suk (Choix Télérama, 5 stars from Classica…), and the recording of Le Chant de l’Isolé (Diapason d’Or).
Violinist Julien Dieudegard joined pianist Paloma Kouider and cellist Louis Rodde at the end of 2023 to continue this adventure.
Trio Karénine has received generous support from the Académie musicale de Villecroze, the Fondation Culture et Musique under the aegis of the Fondation de France, the Fondation Banque Populaire, as well as the Fondation “Musique et Vin au Clos Vougeot.” ADAMI is also one of the ensemble’s most loyal supporters.
