Friends of Chamber Music fan-favourite Han Finckel Setzer Trio returns to the Vancouver stage, February 18
The distinguished musicians will perform Haydn’s Piano Trio in A major, Beethoven’s Piano Trio in G major, and Dvořák’s Piano Trio No. 4 in E minor

Han Finckel Setzer Trio.
Friends of Chamber Music presents the Han Finckel Setzer Trio on February 18 at the Vancouver Playhouse
CELLIST DAVID FINCKEL and violinist Philip Setzer were members of the legendary Emerson String Quartet for more than 30 years. Over the past two decades, they have teamed up with pianist Wu Han (Finckel’s life partner) to form the Han Finckel Setzer Trio, earning global praise along the way.
The group has recorded the piano trios of Schubert, Mendelssohn, and Dvořák on the ArtistLed label (which Han and Finckel launched). With performances described by the Washington Post as “startlingly intimate”, the trio has also become a fan favourite of Vancouver’s Friends of Chamber Music. The organization presents a concert by the Han Finckel Setzer Trio on February 18 at the Vancouver Playhouse.
Steeped in American and Russian musical traditions, the musicians will perform Haydn’s Piano Trio in A major, HOB XV:18; Beethoven’s Piano Trio in G major, Op. 1, No. 2; and Dvořák’s Piano Trio No. 4 in E minor, Op. 90, “Dumky”.
Han and Finckel are past co-recipients of Musical America’s Musician of the Year Award. They are co-artistic directors of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in New York City and of California’s Music@Menlo.
Currently a distinguished professor of violin and chamber music at Stony Brook University in New York, Setzer also is on faculty and is the artistic director of Strings Chamber Music at the Cleveland Institute of Music. In 2024, he was appointed artistic director of the Manchester Music Festival in Vermont. He is the director of the Shouse Institute, the teaching division of the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival in Detroit.
Han serves as artistic advisor for Wolf Trap’s Chamber Music at the Barns series and for Palm Beach’s Society of the Four Arts and is artistic director of La Musica in Sarasota, Florida.
Finckel, meanwhile, is a professor at The Juilliard School and Stony Brook University.
Gail Johnson is cofounder and associate editor of Stir. She is a Vancouver-based journalist who has earned local and national nominations and awards for her work. She is a certified Gladue Report writer via Indigenous Perspectives Society in partnership with Royal Roads University and is a member of a judging panel for top Vancouver restaurants.
Related Articles
In Vancouver Recital Society concert, the talented 24-year-old plays alongside New York City–based collaborative pianist Sahun Sam Hong
Concert conducted by Paula DeWit features a special collection of Baroque instruments and 16 vocalists
In his latest work, the orchestra’s in-house composer plays on the lofty landscapes of his childhood and his adopted West Coast hometown
Conductor Jacques Lacombe and director Mo Zhou are at the helm of Giacomo Puccini’s masterpiece, which features a double cast
Ahead of the Early Music Vancouver presentation, Alexander Weimann leads a chat with accomplished violinist Robert Mealy, the group’s codirector
Concert takes audiences on a journey through the sound of a generation, from The Supremes to Stevie Wonder
Alfredo Santa Ana, Dálava, Eve Egoyan, and Chloe Kim will grace the stage, offering up everything from classical influences to improvisations
Soprano Melody Courage, tenor Asitha Tennekoon, and baritone Tyler Duncan to join the choirs alongside the West Coast Symphony
J.S. Bach’s Long Walk in the Snow features guest musicians Suzie LeBlanc, Leslie Dala, David Harding, and Lori Gemmell
Works by Dvořák, Martinů, and Korngold are on the program for the Vancouver Playhouse matinee
The concert is an evening of music all about living things
Encompassing jazz, tango, chamber, and avant-garde influences, the group’s sound is a treat for the ears
Armenian pianist and composer draws on folklore and storytelling in interdisciplinary project
The multidisciplinary work centres on words related to nature that the 2007 Oxford Junior Dictionary left out in favour of tech terms
Mongolian traditions, Czech strings, Baroque beauties, and more on the music calendar
Caravan World Rhythms presents the 10-piece band at the Massey Theatre
Interdisciplinary artist melds software with sound performance in experimental workshop and presentation
American string players to perform compositions by Bartók and Shostakovich, plus Samuel Barber’s film-famous adagio
The three-piece squeezes something jagged yet soulful from its sparse guitar-drum-vocal setup
The veteran musician, hitting Festival du Bois, revisits the breadth of his career with Le Grand Orchestre
French Romantic masterpiece stars soprano Emily Pogorelc as Manon and tenor Frédéric Antoun as Chevalier des Grieux