Zebra Trio is the meeting of three musicians - Ernst Kovacic, Steven Dann and Anssi Karttunen - each bringing a vast experience in chamber music, in different styles and in working with living composers to the world of String Trio. The Zebra Trio has always wanted to unite known masterpieces with new works and transcriptions, combining all of these in creative ways in their concerts.
Kaija Saariaho, Friedrich Cerha, Rolf Wallin, Miroslav Srnka and Pablo Ortiz are composers who have been inspired by the Zebra Trio. "Cloud Trio", "Zebra Trio", "Sway", "The Tree of Heaven", and "...and all the phonies go mad with joy" are among their titles.
Many classic masterpieces have now become string trios in the hands of the Zebra Trio: Schumann's "Album für die Jugend", Brahms's "Händel Variations", Kurt Weill's "Tango Ballade", Angel Villoldo's "El Choclo" and Thelonius Monk's "Criss Cross".
Zebra Trio has performed on the shores of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, around the Baltic and Mediterranean Seas, by the Great Lakes and along some important river systems: the Danube, the Rhein and the Seine.
In 2017 the Zebra Trio premiered a trio by the Norwegian Asbjørn Schaathun, entitled "Schönberg...est mort". The World Premiere was at the Arnold Schönberg Institute in Vienna, where else!
On July 15 and 16, 2018 the Zebra Trio gave the world premiere of Magnus Lindberg's "Maguey de tlalcoyote" at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, not far from the Rio Grande.