Trio Excelsior!

Trio Excelsior!

Silver Medal WINNER,

6TH Vienna International Music Competition 2025

About Trio Excelsior!

Admiration for each other's musicianship, and great friendship inspired Marja Kaisla, Elina Snellman-Lang, and Yevgeniy Dyo to form Trio Excelsior! Beyond the sheer joy of playing together, they perform the rich and diverse piano trio repertoire to further explore their connection to music and humanity.

Trio Excelsior! brings this shared experience to audiences of all ages, offering an intimate and unique window into the lives of great composers, and the ways in which they expressed the essence of human existence through their music.

The ensemble's name, Trio Excelsior!, embodies this goal, “three still higher!”

Our Members

Marja Kaisla

Piano

Native of Finland, Marja Kaisla began piano studies at age three and made her public debut at age five. She received her musical education at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland, at the St.

Petersburg Conservatory in Russia, in Switzerland with György Sebök, and in Philadelphia with Susan Starr. Her singularly most significant musical influence has been Grigori Sokolov.

Since moving to the US in 1987, she has enjoyed an active concert career on stage, radio, television, and major motion pictures while living a multifaceted life as a cultural and educational advocate and as a governmental consultant on Nordic history, economic, and cultural issues. She received the Finnish Government Centennial Award, the country's highest civilian award, in 2013 for promoting Finnish and Nordic culture in the United States.

Ms. Kaisla made her Carnegie Hall debut in 2005 as the pianist of Trio Excelsior, with whom she has toured all around the US. Besides solo concert touring, she has also toured extensively as a member of Piano, a unique ensemble of four pianos. She was Finlandia Foundation National's Performer of the Year in 2013 and 2014, and has performed for the Nordic countries royal families, President Biden, as well as Us Governors and Senators.

Recognized by the African American Museum in Philadelphia in 2016 as a recipient for Outstanding Achievement in Innovative Programming as a Legend of Jazz, R&B and Gospel, Ms. Kaisla is also a recording artist. Her critically acclaimed solo CD "Embracing Beauty" comprises some of the best known classical pieces for solo piano.

Ms. Kaisla is the Artistic Director of Young Musicians Musicales, a musical organization presenting young instrumentalists of the highest caliber from the US and abroad in concerts in historic landmark residencies in the Philadelphia area.

She lectures on neuroscience regarding the effects of music on memory and cognitive skills. An avid tennis player, her other interests outside of music include history, quantum mechanics, animal welfare, and state and federal lobbying for wider environmental protections.

Yevgeniy Dyo

Violin

Since his debut with the Kazakh State Orchestra at the age of nine, violinist Yevgeniy Dyo has performed as a soloist, chamber and orchestral musician throughout the former Soviet Union, Europe, Asia, Canada, and the United States. He has been featured on national radio, television, and in prominent publications in Kazakhstan, South Korea, and the United States, including the

Washington Posts coverage of the regional premiere and second-ever performance of Bernstein's "Music for String Quartet" in Washington, D.C.

He is the Artistic Director of the Philadelphia Korean Musicians Association's youth competition, having previously served as the organization's president and Director of the Global Music Partnership's volunteer program. He serves as a faculty member for violin and chamber music at the Peddie School in Hightstown, NJ.

Mr. Dyo is a member of the Lehner Quartet and served in the positions of guest concertmaster for the New Jersey Capital Philharmonic and assistant concertmaster for Camerata Kazakhstan.

Elina Snellman-Lang

Cello

Finnish-American cellist Elina Snellman-Lang began her musical studies in Finland. She continued at the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music in Tel Aviv, and received her MM Degree from the Mannes College of Music in New York City.

Elina is an active chamber musician, orchestral player, teacher, and member of the Capital Philharmonic of New Jersey. She has performed extensively around the world with the Helsinki Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, American Symphony Orchestra, Allentown Symphony Orchestra, New York Scandia Symphony, Collegium Musicum NJ, American Repertory Ballet, Boheme Opera NJ and on Broadway.

She is a member of Trio Excelsior, was the former principal cellist and winner of the Herzliya Chamber Orchestra's solo competition, and a member of the Sebastian String Quartet.

Elina has participated in the Spoleto, OK, Mozart, Bard Summerscape and InterHarmony International Music Festivals.

She also serves as a faculty member for cello and chamber music at the Peddie School in Hightstown, NJ.