MONTEREY

Connie Kim-Sheng (piano), Strauss Shi (violin), and Ben (Bennie) Fried (cello) founded the Monterey Piano Trio in late 2021. Deeply committed to connecting the music of the past and present, they believe it is essential to give music greater prevalence in their community by working with non-profits and living composers. With this mission in mind, they have performed throughout Los Angeles with much acclaim. The trio has appeared in venues, both offbeat and mainstream, in order to share their love of the chamber repertoire with many audiences... Within months of the trio's formation, the group was invited to perform as an HEIR, or Heifetz Ensemble-in-Residence, for the Heifetz Institute in Virginia. The Monterey Piano Trio was also a semi-finalist at the Coltman Chamber Competition and has been invited to compete as a quarter-finalist in the Fischoff Competition.