The Adaskin String Trio has won over audiences internationally with exuberant and stirring performances. Their playing has been hailed for “vigor, precision and stylistic certitude” (Charleston Gazette) as well as “spontaneity, intensity and charm” (Peninsula Review) and the Boston Globe praised them for “directing the listener to the heart of the matter.” Formed in 1994, the trio performs extensively throughout the United States and Canada, and has appeared at Merkin Concert Hall in New York, the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington DC, and in Boston, Los Angeles, Montreal, Nashville, Pittsburgh, Santa Barbara, and Chicago. In addition, the trio’s concerts have been regularly recorded for broadcast by CBC Radio, Radio-Canada, and National Public Radio.

This dynamic ensemble commands a large string trio repertoire ranging from Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven to Dohnanyi, Rozsa, Villa-Lobos, Schnittke, and composers of today including commissioned works by Murray Adaskin, Robert Carl, Thomas Schuttenhelm, and David Macbride among others. In addition, the trio enjoys collaborations of the highest level with various artists. The trio and pianist Sally Pinkas have established themselves as powerful interpreters of numerous masterpieces from the piano quartet literature. Other collaborators have included oboist Thomas Gallant, guitarist Eliot Fisk, bassist Robert Black, and accordion virtuoso Joseph Petric with whom they commissioned Raymond Luedeke to write a spectacular new work entitled Tango Dreams.

The trio's recordings include the complete Beethoven String Trios on Musica Omnia which won critical acclaim in American Record Guide - "Highly desirable...strongly recommended" and Gramophone - "Superb playing… a flexible command of flow and phrase with instrumental power and eloquence and a nutty tonal richness. …the Trio savours the sensuality of Beethoven’s string writing and the intoxicating profusion of tunes while plumbing the emotional depths that lie beneath.” In 2008 MSR Classics will release a recording of the Adaskin String Trio and pianist Sally Pinkas performing the two piano quartets of Gabriel Fauré.

Although the Adaskin String Trio is currently based in New England, the members of the trio are all originally from Canada. They met in Montreal where they each studied chamber music with founding Orford Quartet cellist Marcel Saint-Cyr. They later completed two years as ensemble-in-residence at The Hartt School under the guidance of the Emerson Quartet. The trio is named in honor of Murray Adaskin, one of Canada 's most loved and respected composers, and two of his brothers, violinist Harry Adaskin and producer and music educator John Adaskin.

Emlyn Ngai is Concertmaster of Tempesta di Mare and Associate Concertmaster of the Carmel Bach Festival. In 1995 he won First Prize on baroque violin at the Locatelli Concours Amsterdam, and has since given recitals in Canada, the US and Europe. He has been on faculty at McGill University and Boston University and currently teaches violin and early music at The Hartt School of the University of Hartford.

Violist Steve Larson has performed throughout North America, Europe, Japan and China and has appeared as a guest with ensembles such as the Emerson and Miami String Quartets. Since 1998 he has taught at The Hartt School of the University of Hartford where he also serves as Chair for Chamber Music. The year before joining the faculty at Hartt he won second prize at the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition, UK, receiving the special award for his performance of the commissioned work. He is currently also a member of the Avery Ensemble, a group renowned for both its passionate playing and its imaginative programming of an astonishing variety of repertoire.

Mark Fraser holds degrees from McGill University, l'Université de Montréal, and The Hartt School and studied cello with Walter Joachim, Aldo Parisot, and Yuli Turovsky. For many years he was the Artistic Director of Project Renaissance, an arts festival near Montreal. He is an active recitalist in Canada and the US. Recording credits include a CD of works by Bach, Schumann, and Prokofiev with pianist Sooka Wang.