It's official. The Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra's season opener will be a world premiere for the Eroica Trio.

Tonight's concert at The Victory will mark the piano trio's first orchestral appearance with violinist Susie Park as a full member. They'll perform one of the all-female piano trio signature works, Ludwig van Beethoven's Triple Concerto.

Park, an international award-winning violinist from Australia, has been filling in for the past several months for Adela Pena, one of the original members of the group, which has performed around the globe and has recorded a half-dozen CDs together as the Eroica Trio since 1986.

Pena, out with a fatigue injury since February, decided this week that she would not be ready to return for the new season, and officially left the group. Pianist Erika Nickrenz and cellist Sara Sant'Ambrogio, who had both played with her since childhood, had hoped Pena would be able to return to the trio.

She and Nickrenz wondered if they'd eventually have to disband the trio. Fortunately, Park clicked with the other two from their first performance together, said Sant'Ambrogio. "This summer we started playing with Susie, and it was magic right from the start."

When they learned Pena's decision, this week, they asked Park to join the trio. She didn't have to think about her answer, Park said.

http://www.courierpress.com/news/2006/sep/16/reconstituted-eroica-trio-to-premiere-with/