The Saguaro Trio are young, gifted and named after a cactus.
New Zealand pianist John Chen, Canadian violinist Luanne Homzy and US cellist Peter Myers are all young and prodigiously talented. Together, they are the Saguaro Trio, who already have an impressive collection of glowing 
commendations: third in the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition in the US, second in the 6th Osaka International Chamber Music Competition in Japan, and first in the 2009 International Chamber Music Competition Hamburg.
This month and next, they make their first tour of New Zealand.
But where did that name come from? Saguaro, according to Wikipedia, is a large tree-sized cactus. “Yeah,” confirms Chen, on the phone from Hamburg, where the trio are performing, “it’s a cactus!” It reminds them all of their time as students at the Colburn School Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles, with the desert just the other side of the mountains. There’s symbolism as well; the Saguaro is of a tall three-pronged cactus, “just like a piano trio, three branches of one entity”.
“Our name has really intrigued audiences here in Germany. One concert presenter brought us a small cactus as part of the decoration for our refreshments backstage. Another printed a picture of a Saguaro in our concert programme and explained its significance. And one reviewer even headed up his review of our concert: ‘No little pricks’!”
Better get serious, I think. What was it that drew them together? “A mutual love of chamber music. At first, we were playing together just for fun, then we started entering competitions and we realised we loved playing together and thought that perhaps we had an opportunity to make a career in chamber music.”
I imagine musical compatibility is important – or is a bit of non-compatibility useful? “Well, we’re three very different individuals and often have really different ideas. But the way our group works is that in rehearsal we are very much task-oriented. We rehearse, we find our interpretations, fix details and get the job done. Then when we spend time together outside of rehearsal, everything is left behind. It’s a professional relationship in rehearsal, then true friendship outside. It’s wonderful, because then when we give each other constructive criticism it doesn’t become personal, it remains in the rehearsal.” Which sounds like compatibility to me. As an afterthought, he comments that “you can play the same piece with different musicians and it will – and should – come out very different every time”.
Competitions have been an ongoing part of Chen’s life, both as a soloist and a chamber musician. In 2004, he was the youngest-ever winner of the Sydney International Piano Competition. “They are important for getting your name out there.” A string of performance opportunities in Europe came with the Hamburg competition success. I notice Chamber Music New Zealand’s publicity for this tour lists their competition successes in its first sentence and I have felt the need to list them myself. But Chen, calm and cool as ever, gets it all into proportion. “At the end of the day, it’s really the concerts, your most recent performance, that matter.”
I take the cue and ask about their two New Zealand programmes, which include four of the great masterworks for piano trio by Schubert, Brahms, Arensky and Ravel.
“Yeah, we do gravitate towards the standard masterworks. They are all very demanding, but so rewarding. The Ravel Trio is, and has been for many years, my favourite piece of all time.”
The repertoire for the tour was chosen by the trio, except for the Arensky, which CMNZ requested, as it is his anniversary year. A work they’ll be playing in all 10 of their concerts was commissioned for them by CMNZ from New Zealand composer Alwyn Westbrooke. It has the tantalising title “?” or: Why Gryphons Shouldn’t Dance. It’s an extremely demanding work, according to Chen, who adds wryly, “It should turn out great.”
Westbrooke admits the title is “fanciful and more than mildly ridiculous”. Reassuringly, he adds, “Of course, the piece is intended to have an entertaining side. Viewed in the most superficial terms, it is a progression from rather abstract and mercurial beginnings to a high-octane blast of virtuosity that verges on mistreatment of the instrumentalists’ capabilities, or at the very least a shameless exploitation of their willingness to participate.”
“I love chamber music,” says Chen, quickly adding he loves solo piano, too. “But there is something really special, intimate and deeply meaningful about chamber music. I really hope the Saguaro trio will endure.”
So do I, and my mind turns to the Wikipedia page, which says Saguaro are long-lived. I know it means the cactus, but why not the trio as well?
THE SAGUARO TRIO, touring, July 20-August 10.