Before formally known as Trio Séléné, Ilya Poletaev, Mingzhe Wang, and Eli Lara first performed together in 2006 while graduate students at Yale. Gabriel Fauré's Piano Trio, op. 120 was the primary impetus for the ensemble's inception. Having discovered evidence that the work was very likely originally conceived as a work scored with clarinet instead of the more standard violin, the ensemble endeavored to present the work in this version. The Trio draws it's name from the song Diane, Séléné from Fauré's beautiful song cycle, L'horizon Chimérique, and it's members have come together again to explore the repertoire for this ensemble including presenting and commissioning new works. In the spirit of balancing rhetoric and spontaneity, Trio Séléné aspires to bring the highest expression and understanding to the music it performs. Trio Séléné has performed concerts in Columbia University in New York City, Rutgers University in New Jersey, and at the Clarksville Concert Artist Series in Tennessee. Pianist Ilya Poletaev is quickly becoming recognized as one of today's most original and compelling artists. A pianist with an inquisitive mind who embraces a wide range of repertoire choices and performance practices. He was the First Prize winner of the XX Concorso Sala Gallo Piano Competition in Monza, Italy, the First Prize winner at the 2009 Grieg International Competition, and was a laureate of the 2008 National Stepping Stone Competition in Canada. Clarinetist Mingzhe Wang is committed to promote both the music of our time and the classics. He gave the Chinese premiere of Elliott Carter's Hiyoku and has worked closely with some of the world's leading composers. Regarded for thoughtful interpretations, compelling execution, and depth of understanding, cellist Eli Lara has been praised for creating "a sense of complete awe."