For Trio Séléné's debut recording, the group, with MSU associate professor Mingzhe Wang on clarinet, chose to record two works by two composers at the very opposite end of their careers.

First is Fauré's Trio in d minor, op. 120, which was completed when he was 78 years old. It was the penultimate offering in a remarkable flowering of late masterworks, astonishing for their boldness, formal ingenuity, and forward-looking harmonic language.

The trio then presents Zemlinsky’s Trio for Clarinet, Cello, and Piano, op. 3, which is one of his most commonly performed works today but also one of his earliest. One might say that Zemlinsky begins where Brahms ends: despite the obvious similarities in both style and instrumentation, Zemlinsky’s restless, youthful yearning and the overabundance of textures and sonorities are at odds with the classically restrained concentration of Brahms’ late works.

Concluding this debut recording is Fernando Buide's Two Fragments for Bass Clarinet, Cello, and Piano which was commissioned by Trio Séléné and premiered on April 14th, 2014 at Columbia University. The marvelous color and atmospheric sounds of Buide’s music create a nostalgic quality that provides an exceptional complement to the Fauré and Zemlinksy trios.

Trio Séléné was conceived when the three performers, clarinetist Wang, Ilya Poletaev, piano, and Eli Lara, cello, were graduate students together at Yale University. The name comes from the song Diane, Séléné, from Fauré’s song cycle L’horizon Cimérique. Together the members explore new and classic works for clarinet, cello and piano, including several commissioned pieces. Trio Selene has toured nationally, including performances at Columbia University, Rutgers University, and the Clarksville Concert Artist Series in Tennessee.