A B O U T
Trio Brontë was founded in Berlin in 2022 and consists of German-Italian violinist Chiara Sannicandro, Bulgarian pianist Lili Bogdanova, and American cellist Annie Jacobs-Perkins. Having grown up immersed in the fervent, turbulent novels by the Brontë sisters, the trio is named after the Brontës and is inspired by their passion for storytelling, their intelligence, and their companionship.
After playing together for only a few months, the Trio Brontë won 1st prize at the 2023 Ilmari Hannikainen International Piano Chamber Music Competition in Finland. This season has brought them more success, including first prize and the special prize of a CD production at Franz Schubert und die Musik der Moderne Competition in Graz, Austria and second prize at the 2025 Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Hochschulwettbewerb in Berlin, Germany.
Highlights of their ‘24-‘25 season include performances at the Konzerthaus Berlin, Stefaniensaal Graz, Mendelssohn-Haus (Leipzig), and Aldeburgh’s Jubilee Hall as a 2024-2025 Britten Pears Young Artist, as well as further performances in Germany, Holland, and the UK.
In March of 2023 Trio Brontë appeared as the soloist for Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with the Jyväskylä Sinfonia under the baton of Jan Söderblom. Their performance from this concert was featured on the Areena Broadcasting Company of Finland. After winning a grant from the Bulgarian “Culture Perspectives” Foundation, they collaborated to present their program “Un Jour,” focusing on works by Germaine Tailleferre, Mel Bonis, Kaija Saariaho, and Lili Boulanger in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Annie, Lili, and Chiara met while studying at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin where they are currently coached by Jonathan Aner. They have received additional coaching from Eldar Nebolsin, Troels Svane, and David Waterman.
L I L I
Pianist Lili Bogdanova, named Young Musician of the Year by the Bulgarian National Radio in 2014, has performed worldwide as a soloist in Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, USA and others. Recent performance highlights include Brahms First Piano Concerto and Beethoven Triple Concerto at the Metropolitan Theatre in Tokyo with the Mozart Virtuoso Orchestra, Clara Schumann Piano Concerto with the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra, and a feature in the "Es Brahmst" Marathon at the Konzerthaus in Berlin.
Lili is a prizewinner of numerous international competitions including Strumenti e musica, Italy and Princess Lalla Meryem, Morocco.
In 2014 she released her debut CD with works by Claude Debussy and César Franck. She has played live on Deutschlandfunk Kulturradio and Rbb Kulturradio in Germany. To learn more about Lili, visit her website here:
A N N I E
Praised for anything from “hypnotic lyricism, causing listeners to forget where they were for a moment” (Alex Ross, The New Yorker) to "delightfully pluck[ing] and slapp[ing] her cello like a rockabilly upright bassist," cellist Annie Jacobs-Perkins is 1st prize winner of the 2024 Buchet International Cello Competition (“Prix Buchet”) and 2023 Pierre Fournier Award.
Annie is Artist-in-Residence of the Austin Chamber Music Center in Texas, and regularly participates in festivals such as Krzyżowa Music, Ravinia Steans Music Institute, Yellow Barn, and Marlboro Music, where she has collaborated with artists such as Miriam Fried, Nobuko Imai, Anthony Marwood, and members of the Brentano, Juilliard, and Kuss Quartets. Her performances have brought her to venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Konzerthaus Berlin, het Konzertgebouw, and Wigmore Hall.
In the 2024-25 season Annie is a regular guest cellist with Frankfurt’s Ensemble Modern. To learn more about Annie, visit her website here:
https://www.anniejacobs-perkins.com/
C H I A R A
German-Italian violinist Chiara Sannicandro is a Laureate and winner of the Audience Prize at the 2021 Joseph Joachim Violin Competition 2021 in Hanover, 2nd prize winner of the International Johannes Brahms Competition Pörtschach, as well as a prizewinner at the Hudson Valley Philharmonic String Competition New York. Born in 1997 in Salzburg to a family of musicians, music has always been a driving force in her life.
Chiara has participated in festivals such as the Kronberg Academy, IMS Prussia Cove, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and has appeared as a soloist in Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland and Liechtenstein, Romania and Portugal as well as in the USA and Canada.
Her participation in chamber music festivals, her work as concertmaster of the Indiana University Chamber Orchestra and her regular participation in the Camerata Salzburg underscore the young violinist's multifaceted musical activities and passions.
Chiara plays a violin by Matteo Goffriller Venezia 1723 on generous loan from the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben. To learn more about Chiara, visit her website here:
https://www.chiarasannicandro.com/