The Chamber Maids

Einstein asked: “A table, a chair, a bowl of fruit and a violin; what else does a man need to be happy?” The Luna Trio might say a cello and a piano. Founded at the SF Conservatory of Music in 2001, when the original members, including current pianist and Mill Valley resident Mayumi Tsuchida, were merely 10 years old, Luna performs with sensitivity far beyond its players’ tender years.

Understandably, people have had their doubts. Last year, for instance, at SF State’s Yehudi Menuhin Chamber Music Seminar, a gathering of the world’s finest young musicians, the teenagers attacked Shostakovich’s Trio No. 2. “It’s a very dark piece about the Holocaust,” explains Wey, who lives in Saratoga and joined the trio in 2006. “People said, ‘You’re too young. How could three kids play music that demands such depth of feeling?’ But when we performed Shostakovich together, we got it.”

The girls balance school, social lives and musical careers. “When we’re not practicing, we’re at concerts or hanging out at Arlequin Food to Go,” says cellist and Berkeleyite Tessa Seymour, who joined Luna in 2004 (and last year added a little venue called Carnegie Hall to her résumé). And she doesn’t only mean Brahms concerts. “On my iPod? Queen,” confides Tsuchida.

“People worry that parents push their kids,” Wey says. “But I felt like a true musician when I realized I was pushing myself.”

WEB EXCLUSIVE: Q&A

How did you choose your instruments?
Seymour: My brother played trumpet, my sister played flute. I wanted to play an instrument too, but I wanted something big. The bigger, the better. I thought of a bass or tuba at first. A cello just a baby bass.
Wey: I’m the opposite of Tessa—I wanted a smaller instrument. I thought the violin was really cute.

When did you first feel like a real musician?
Tsuchida: When I gave my first concert by myself, and afterwards when everyone came up and said it was great. This one person said she was inspired to start playing piano. When you inspire someone, you feel like a true musician.

What’s your favorite piece of classical music?
Wey: I have a lot of favorite pieces. It all depends on my mood, but in general, I’d have to go with Beethoven string quartets and piano sonatas, and Mahler symphonies. Beethoven string quartets because of the perfect voicing and the wide range of colors and emotions, the piano sonatas because of their beauty and purity, and Mahler because he’s just amazing ... he encompasses every human emotion.

What’s on your iPod?
Seymour: Frank Sinatra, the Beatles, oldies, world music, Pink Martini. All different languages.
Tsuchida: Popular music, guitar, old music from the ’50s and ’60s through the ’80s. Queen. No rap.

How do you manage school, practice, rehearsals, shows and the rest of your life?
Wey: It just depends on how you manage your time. I do my homework during school. If you have good time management, it’s not that hard.

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