Omega Trio

The Omega Trio—featuring Skidmore music faculty Michael Emery, violin, and Jameson Platte, cello, with pianist Matthew Quayle—presents a program that connects contemporary voices with one of the great piano trios of the 20th century. The first half features Chen Yi’s Tibetan Tunes , Jessie Montgomery’s Duo for Violin and Cello , and the world premiere of a new trio work by Quayle, with selections from Reena Esmail’s Piano Trio . The second half centers on Shostakovich’s epic Trio No. 2 in E minor, Op. 67 , a work the Omega Trio performed at Zankel during the concert hall’s inaugural season in 2010. About the Artists Matthew Quayle is an eclectic composer whose music ranges from lush orchestral works to spiky quartets and cabaret songs. He has received commissions and performances from Akira Saxophone Quartet, Alarm Will Sound, Albany Symphony Orchestra, the Almeida Theatre (London), Arditti String Quartet, Avalon String Quartet, Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, The Brass Project, eighth blackbird, Janus, International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), Locrian Chamber Players, New London Children’s Choir, United States Air Force Strings, the Westchester Symphonic Winds, and soloists including Deborah Andrus, Emanuele Arciuli, Claire Chase, Lorraine Duso, Gail Levinsky, Jameson Platte, and Ashley Sandor Sidon. His music has been released on Albany Records (solo piano works), Centaur Records (woodwind chamber music), and Naxos (string quartets, featuring the Avalon Quartet). He also wrote the music and lyrics for Amazed By You, an indie album of original cabaret songs with soprano Marian Murphy. Quayle has performed widely as a solo pianist and chamber musician. He is a member of the Omega Trio with vioinist Michael Emery and cellist Jameson Platte. Recent piano performances include recitals of his original music at Middlebury College, NYU Abu Dhabi, and studioboerne45 in Berlin, recitals with the Omega Trio in Abu Dhabi and New York City, and performances at the Atlantic Music Festival of Bartók’s Rhapsody No. 2 with violinist Kyung-Sun Lee, Prokofiev’s Cello Sonata with Jameson Platte, and Chen Yi’s mixed quartet Qi. Other highlights include Mozart and Fauré piano quartets on the Sembrich Concert Series and Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with the Skidmore Orchestra under the direction of Charles Schneider. Quayle has also appeared in recital at Bar Harbor Music Festival, Glens Falls Symphony MusicBridge Festival, Kosciuszko Foundation, Merkin Concert Hall, Monmouth Conservatory, Montclair Art Museum, and NYU in New York. Platte and Quayle released the cello-piano album Entr’acte on Albany Records in 2019, featuring works of Chabrier, Cipullo, Debussy, Quayle, Rachmaninoff, and Webern. Quayle is currently Visiting Assistant Professor of Music Theory and Composition at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. He is Workshop Director of the BAAM Berlin Transatlantic Composers Workshop in Germany, which he founded with conductor Garrett Keast in 2025. He is also Composition Faculty at New England Music Camp. Prior to joining UNC Wilmington, Quayle was Visiting Assistant Professor at Middlebury College in Vermont and Composition Program Coordinator of the Atlantic Music Festival. He also taught for over a decade at NYU Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, where he was Associate Arts Professor of Music and served as Program Head of Music. A native of Waterville, New York, Quayle holds degrees from Oberlin Conservatory (B.M.), University of Cincinnati (M.M.), and New York University’s Graduate School of Arts and Science (Ph.D.). As Senior Artist-in-Residence at Skidmore College, Michael Emery directs the vibrant string program, working with talented students on solo, chamber music, and orchestral repertoire. Through the annual Skidmore String Festival, which he initiated in 2005, the Skidmore community has enjoyed residencies by several highly acclaimed quartets, including the Brentano, Manhattan, American, Ying, Talich, Meccore, and Dover. Mr. Emery blends performance with teaching to create an active musical career. He has collaborated in chamber music with many international artists, including Ruggiero Ricci, Elizabeth Pitcairn, André-Michel Schub, and Emanuel Ax, and has performed in the Sibelius, Ludwig Spohr and Paganini International Violin Competitions. He is pleased to join his colleagues Jameson Platte, cellist, and Matthew Quayle, pianist, to form the Omega Trio, which will be touring internationally with piano trio repertoire as well as the Beethoven Triple Concerto. Mr. Emery has coached and performed in several international summer music festivals including the Spoleto Festival dei 2Mondi and InterHarmony Music Festivals in Italy, Luzerne Music Center and KentMusic in New York, and Mahler Conservatory in Vienna. He is concertmaster and frequent soloist with orchestras in New York and California, and has performed as soloist and concertmaster in Asia, as well as several major European cities. Mr. Emery has performed in collaboration with many contemporary composers, including Gunther Schuller, Jennifer Higdon, Joan Tower, Ezra Laderman, Lowell Liebermann, Tommie Haglund, Richard Danielpour, and John Corigliano. Mr. Emery earned his MM in Performance from the Manhattan School of Music as a scholarship student with Erick Friedman and Raphael Bronstein, and served as concertmaster of the Manhattan Symphony. At MSM he was selected to perform in masterclasses with Ruggiero Ricci and Henryk Szeryng, and as the violinist for the sonata class with Misha Elman’s longtime collaborative pianist, Joseph Seiger. Cellist Jameson D. Platte maintains an active career both as a performer and a teacher. He is currently a member of the critically acclaimed Duo 92 with pianist/composer Matthew Quayle, the Omega Trio, principal cellist of the The Orchestra of Northern New York, The Plainfield Symphony, Bachanalia Virtuosi, Chelsea Opera, Garden State Philharmonic and the Allentown Symphony. As faculty at Skidmore College, he teaches cello and chamber music. Mr. Platte works extensively as a clinician, guest conductor and cello coach, performs as a soloist and maintains a large private studio. He is in constant demand as a guest principal cellist throughout the northeast. A frequent recitalist in New York City, he has been featured in Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Lincoln Center and the 92nd St. Y, among others. His recitals have been heard throughout North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Mr. Platte is Artist/Faculty at the Atlantic Music Festival. Mr. Platte attended the Brevard Music Festival as a teaching assistant where he won the concerto contest. He also attended the Blossom Chamber Music Festival where he played principal cello under Leonard Slatkin. Mr. Platte has been a member of the Tuscaloosa Symphony (under Louis Lane), the Alabama Symphony and the Huntsville Symphony. He has recently been a featured soloist with the Allentown Symphony, Glens Falls Symphony, Maplewood Society of Musical Arts Orchestra, Central Jersey Symphony, Monmouth Symphony, Plainfield Symphony, Bachanalia Virtuosi and the Stokes Forest Festival Orchestra, among others. Recent international residencies have included performances in China, Korea, Germany, Italy and the United Arab Emirates. His recordings of contemporary music may be heard under the Koch International, Seedmusic, Naxos and Albany labels. Mr. Platte’s principal teacher was Carlton McCreery; he has also pursued studies with such teachers as Lynn Harrell, Mstislav Rostropovich, Harvey Shapiro, Heinrich Schiff and Anner Bylsma. Mr. Platte plays on cellos by Hannibal Fagnola (1925) and Andrea Amati (1572) as well as bows by François Xavier Tourte and Dominique Peccatte. Presented by the Skidmore College Department of Music. Made possible by the Elisabeth Luce Moore Chamber Music Fund.