“...well achieved mix of
delicacy and virtuosity.”
Youthful vigor, passion on stage and compelling playfulness, all based on a profound knowledge of sound production and the structures of chamber music: thus one would characterize the musical trinity that has since 2009 been known as TRIO ALBA*.
The trio was founded by the German violinist Livia Sellin, the Austro-Italian violoncellist Philipp Comploi, and the Chinese-Austrian pianist Chengcheng Zhao during their studies of chamber music under Professor Chia Chou at the University of Music and Performing Arts of Graz (Austria). Success at competitions soon marked the beginning of their concert career both at home and abroad, among others at Shanghai, at the National Centre of Performing Arts of Peking and at the Festival of Chamber Music at Lockenhaus.
Today, ten years later, the trio is firmly established in the international scene of chamber music. It has repeatedly performed at international festivals and in great concert halls, among others at Schleswig-Holstein Festival, at Concertgebouw Amsterdam, at Konzerthaus Vienna, at Musikverein Vienna, at Musikverein Graz, at Quincena Musical in Spain, at the world’s greatest chamber music festival at Ottawa, and at Teatro Gran Rex of Buenos Aires that numbers no less than 2000 seats. The trio has toured not only several European countries, but also the other four continents, giving concerts both in North and South America, in China, in Morocco, and in Australia.
Since in 2016 the trio has been included in the program “New Austrian Sound of Music”, its concert tours are increasingly supported by the Austrian Foreign Office.
Under the German classics label “Musikproduktion Dabringhaus und Grimm” (MDG) the trio has produced four CD’s, containing the piano trios by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, the piano trio and the Notturno by Franz Schubert, and the Trio-Phantasie and (together with the violist Wen Xiao Zheng) the ballad for piano quartet by the Austrian composer Joseph Marx. In the summer of 2022 the latest CD with the piano trios by Bedřich Smetana and Dmitri Shostakovich was released. In addition to receiving enthusiastic international critiques the trio has two times been awarded the Pasticcio Prize of the Austrian National Broadcasting Channel of Classical Music Ö1.
Livia Sellin
Livia
Sellin

Born in Heidelberg, Livia Sellin received her first violin lesson at the age of five. She studied at the Freiburg University of Music and at the Graz University of Music, where she graduated with honours in March 2011.
During her studies Livia Sellin was already active as a violinist in the SWR Orchestra of Freiburg and the Vienna Symphony. She performed under renowned conductors such as Mariss Jansons, Franz Welser-Möst, Ivan Fischer, and Fabio Luisi. As a member of the Gustav Mahler Orchestra her concerts took her to some of Europe’s most prestigious concert halls and festivals.
With her piano trio TRIO ALBA she repeatedly performes at international festivals and in great concert halls, among others at Schleswig-Holstein Festival, at Concertgebouw Amsterdam, at Konzerthaus Vienna, at Musikverein Vienna, at Musikverein Graz, at Quincena Musical in Spain, at the world’s greatest chamber music festival at Ottawa, and at Teatro Gran Rex of Buenos Aires that numbers no less than 2000 seats. The trio has toured not only several European countries, but also the other four continents, giving concerts both in North and South America, in China, in Morocco, and in Australia.
Under the German classics label “Musikproduktion Dabringhaus und Grimm” (MDG) the trio has produced four CD’s, containing the piano trios by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, the piano trio and the Notturno by Franz Schubert, and the Trio-Phantasie and (together with the violist Wen Xiao Zheng) the ballad for piano quartet by the Austrian composer Joseph Marx. In the summer of 2022 the latest CD with the piano trios by Bedřich Smetana and Dmitri Shostakovich was released. In addition to receiving enthusiastic international critiques the trio has two times been awarded the Pasticcio Prize of the Austrian National Broadcasting Channel of Classical Music Ö1.
Before founding the TRIO ALBA Livia Sellin had already been active in numerous ensembles, performing concerts in the United States, Italy, Russia, Poland, Abu Dhabi, and Japan.
In addition to her activities as a musician, Livia Sellin has also appeared in public as a moderator. She hosted a widely acclaimed public podium discussion with Nikolaus Harnoncourt in Graz and was producer and host of the monthly radio program »Frauen in der Musik« (Women in Music) for Radio Helsinki.
Since 2023 Livia Sellin is professor for violin and chamber music at the Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna and is head of the string instruments programme .
Livia Sellin performs on a violin by Laurentius Storioni from 1788.
Philipp Comploi
Philipp Comploi
A native of Salzburg, Philipp Comploi began receiving cello lessons at the age of seven. He studied under Susanne Riebl at the Mozarteum in Salzburg and under Rudolf Leopold at the Graz University of Music.
Along with his concertizing with the TRIO ALBA, Comploi is a sought-after leader and soloist in orchestras and ensembles specializing in performing on historical instruments such as the Wiener Akademie, Bach Consort of Vienna, Delirio Ensemble and Quadriga Consort. His work with Reinhard Göbel, Martin Haselböck, Christophe Coin, Andreas Lindenbaum, and Martin Hornstein has contributed significantly to his artistic development.
Performances as a soloist and chamber musician have taken Comploi throughout Europe and to China, Canada, the United States, Mexico, and Argentina, including performances at the Salzburg Festival as well as the Musikverein and Konzerthaus in Vienna.
In 2014 he was invited to give a baroque cello master class at the Frédéric Chopin University in Warsaw.
Philipp Comploi has made numerous recordings for Harmonia Mundi (SONY Classical), MDG, Carpe Diem und Capriccio as well as for the Austrian National Broadcasting (ORF) and the Italian National Broadcasting (RAI).
Philipp Comploi performs on a cello from Urs Mächler, made in the year 2000.

Chengcheng
Zhao
Chengcheng
Zhao

The Chinese-Austrian pianist Chengcheng Zhao was born in Dalian, China. She received her first piano lesson at the age of five. At seventeen she went to Austria to study with Eugen Jakab at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz. In 2007 she was awarded the highest honors in Concert Diplomate with a unanimous board decision and received a recognition award from the Ministry of Education of Austria.
During her studies she was awarded the Martha-Debelli scholarship, the Bösendorfer scholarship, the scholarship of city Graz and the scholarship from the Yehudi Menuhin “Live Music Now” Foundation. She was a prizewinner at numerous national and international competitions such as the Giuliano Pecar International Piano Competition in Italy and the Gradus ad Parnassum competition in Austria.
Chengcheng Zhao regularly appears as a soloist and chamber musician at some of the major venues and festivals across five continents, including Musikverein and Konzerthaus Vienna, Konzerthaus Berlin, National Centre for the Performing Arts Beijing, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Chamberfest Ottawa, Festival Música Clásica de Bogotá, Schleswig-Holstein Festival and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival in Germany and Quincena Musical in Spain.
She has participated in a number of radio productions for the Austrian National Broadcasting (ORF) and produced with the Trio Alba four CDs under the German classics label “Musikproduktion Dabringhaus und Grimm” (MDG), containing the piano trios by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Joseph Marx, Franz Schubert, Bedrich Smetana and Dmitri Shostakovich. In addition to receiving enthusiastic international critiques the trio has two times been awarded the Pasticcio Prize of the Austrian National Broadcasting Channel of Classical Music Ö1.
Since 2010 she has been teaching at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz.