This distinguished trio brings together concertmaster Adrian Demian on violin, cellist and Burgum Endowed Professor Simona Barbu, and pianist and UND professor Nariaki Sugiura for a vibrant, international take on Beethoven’s Triple Concerto.

Adrian Demian, NPOI’s concertmaster and Orchestra Director at the Episcopal School of Dallas, is a Romanian-born violinist whose career spans festivals and tours across Europe and North America, solo appearances with orchestras in Romania and the United States, and teaching posts from Bucharest to the Eastman School of Music. His artistry blends Baroque finesse with modern virtuosity, making him a natural lead voice for Beethoven’s soaring violin lines.

Cellist Simona Barbu, Burgum Endowed Professor of Music at the University of North Dakota, began her musical journey at seven and first drew public acclaim with Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations in her native Romania; today she is a sought-after soloist, chamber musician, and educator who leads UND’s cello and double bass studio and honor string orchestra. Her warm tone and expressive phrasing give the Triple Concerto’s cello solos a lyrical, storytelling presence on stage.

At the piano, Nariaki Sugiura—professor of piano and an endowed scholar at UND—has built a reputation for dynamic performances and imaginative collaborations, including international touring and recordings with Duo Cantabile, his ensemble with Barbu. Known for his ability to connect performers and audiences around a single instrument, he anchors Beethoven’s grand piano part with clarity, color, and a chamber musician’s sensitivity.

Together, Demian, Barbu, and Sugiura form a truly cosmopolitan trio whose shared experience performing and teaching around the world infuses Beethoven’s Concerto for Violin, Cello, and Piano in C major, Op. 56 “Triple Concerto” with both symphonic power and intimate dialogue—promising a performance where three solo voices converse like old friends while igniting the orchestra around them.