Under a Veil of Stars

Tickets will be for general seating.

Out of respect for our guests, our performance is a scent-free environment.

Canadian composer and pianist Kevin Lau’s epic piano trio “Under a Veil of Stars”, a piece which invites you to explore the spectrum of human emotions and experiences. Across nine captivating tracks, each bridging with its own distinct mood and theme, you are invited to interpret their profound meaning through the prism of your own unique perspective. Yet, the pinnacle of this musical odyssey lies in the album's centerpiece—a magnum opus comprised of three movements, aptly titled “Under a Veil of Stars.” In this awe-inspiring composition, Lau weaves a tapestry that chronicles life's three overarching stages—childhood, adulthood, and old age.

Franz Schubert’s Piano Trio No. 2 in E-flat Major for piano, violin, and cello, D. 929, was among the few of his late compositions Schubert heard performed before his death. Like Schubert's other piano trio, this is a comparatively larger work than most piano trios of the time, taking almost 50 minutes to perform.

The main theme of the second movement was used as one of the central musical themes in Stanley Kubrick’s 1975 film Barry Lyndon. It has also been used in a number of other films, including The Hunger, Crimson Tide, The Piano Teacher, L’Homme de sas Vie, Land of the Blind, Recollections of the Yellow House, The Way He Looks, The Mechanic, Miss Julie, The Congress, the HBO miniseries John Adams, the FX miniseries Mrs. America, two episodes of American Crime Story, as the opening piece for the ABC documentary The Killing Season, used throughout the BBC documentary Aushwitz: The Nazis and ‘The Final Solution’, and in the 2023 biographical film, Dance First, about Irish playwright Samuel Beckett.

Schumann, who was fond of Schubert, wrote,

“A Trio by Schubert passed across the musical world like some angry comet in the sky”.

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Season 12 is generously sponsored by

Host or Publisher Trio Arkel