The Phouri Trio performs a music concert at North Shore Unitarian Church

The Phouri Trio Will present a concert of the music of Johannes Brahms, Claude Debussy and Max Bruch.

The trio consists of two members of the Grammy award-winning ensemble, eighth blackbird, Michael Maccaferri, clarinet and Nicholas Phontinos, cello. The pianist is Yasuko Oura. Admission is free but a donation is requested.

Yasuko Oura has received national recognition as a virtuoso collaborative pianist, with concert appearances in notable venues as Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Hall, and Carnegie’s Weill Hall. Also known as a noted vocal coach and repetiteur, she has worked been on the music staff of Des Moines Metro Opera, Fort Worth Opera, Madison Opera, Florentine Opera,  She currently resides in Chicago, where she is on the faculty of Roosevelt University. Oura has received fellowships to San Francisco Operas Merola Opera Program, Tanglewood Music Center, Aspen Opera Theater Center and Music Academy of the West. She holds a bachelors degree from Oberlin College and masters and doctoral degrees from the Juilliard School.

Born and raised in Plymouth, Massachusetts, Michael J. Maccaferri began his musical studies in front of a monolithic tangerine-orange piano which fell off the back of a farm truck. A clarinet dug out of an aunt's closet soon came to be his tool of choice as he found his way to study at the Walnut Hill School for the Arts and New England Conservatory of Music. After finishing preparatory studies he went on to train at the renowned midwestern mecca that is the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. During his time at Oberlin, he was active in many ensembles including the Oberlin Chamber Orchestra and Contemporary Music Ensemble. His love for new music led to frequent collaborations with student and faculty composers writing chamber/orchestral works and mixed medium theatrical productions. It was also at Oberlin where he found pleasure and delight in political activism, print design and technology consulting. His principal instructors include J. Lawrie Bloom (Northwestern University), Lawrence McDonald (Oberlin Conservatory), Ronald deKant and Ronald Aufman (Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music).

In addition to serving as cellist of the internationally renowned new music ensemble eighth blackbird, Nicholas Photinos has performed recitals throughout California and the Midwest and has appeared with orchestras in California and Ohio, including the world premiere of the Cello Concerto in D Minor by Grace Vamos. He has toured with Björk as part of the Icelandic String Octet and performed as a member of the Canton and Columbus Symphony Orchestras. His interest in jazz had led him to perform with several jazz artists, including Chicago violinist Zach Brock and vocalist Grazyna Auguscik. His principal teachers include Hans Jorgen-Jensen, Lee Fiser, Andor Toth, Jr., Irene Sharp and Grace Vamos. Nicholas Photinos is a graduate of Northwestern University, the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. His interests include reading, cooking, cycling, and beer brewing.