About Iris Trio

Praised for their “beauty of sound and striking expression” (Bremen Weser Kurier), the Iris Trio – clarinetist Christine Carter, violist Zoë Martin-Doike, and pianist Anna Petrova – is known for their imaginative programming and powerhouse performances. 

Christine Carter Clarinet

Canadian Clarinetist Christine Carter has performed at venues across the globe, from Carnegie Hall to the Sydney Opera House. She is the clarinetist of the critically acclaimed Iris Trio and Dark by Five inter-arts ensemble, and regularly collaborates with Duo Concertante, with whom she has released two albums on Marquis Classics. Her performances have been praised for their “striking expression” (Bremen Wester Kurier), “seductive tone and effortless fluidity” (The Clarinet), and “golden legato” (Fanfare Magazine), and her debut recording with the Iris Trio was featured by CBC as a top ten classical release. She has also performed extensively as an orchestral musician, including engagements with the New World Symphony, Montréal Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Nova Scotia, and Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, and under the batons of some of the world’s finest conductors, such as Lorin Maazel, Michael Tilson Thomas, Kent Nagano, and Fabio Luisi.

As a clarinetist, chamber musician, and animateur, Christine is drawn to interdisciplinary and genre-defying projects that illuminate the role of artists and the arts in addressing humanity’s pressing challenges. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts from Manhattan School of Music and is Associate Professor of Music at Memorial University in St. John's. Christine is a Buffet Crampon Artist.

Zoë Martin-Doike​ Viola

Violinist/violist Zoë Martin-Doike is an exciting and versatile artist who engages in a wide variety of musical activities. A passionate chamber musician, Zoë was a founding violinist of the Aizuri Quartet which garnered top prizes at the Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition and held residencies at the Curtis Institute of Music and the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia while she was a member. She has also received top prizes at the Primrose International Viola Competition and the Lennox International Young Artist Competition on viola and violin, respectively, and most recently won the 2019 Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra Competition, earning a solo appearance with the group in the following season. Zoë has attended the Steans Institute at Ravinia as well as the Sarasota, Norfolk, Taos and Marlboro Music Festivals. She did her undergraduate studies with renowned violinist, Pamela Frank at the Curtis Institute of Music, where she served as concertmaster for the 2011-12 season, and her master’s degree at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, where she double-majored in violin and viola under the tutelage of Mimi Zweig and Atar Arad respectively. She was the violist of the quartet selected for the coveted Kuttner Quartet Fellowship and had the opportunity to perform both the Walton Viola Concerto and the Brahms Violin Concerto with university orchestras during her time at IU.

Zoë is currently acting assistant principal viola of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and has also frequently joined the Philadelphia Orchestra for tours of Europe and Asia.

Anna Petrova Piano

Praised for her “artistic, clear and enlightened” performances (BBC Magazine) of “technical brilliance and complete emotional engagement" (Fanfare Magazine), Bulgarian pianist Anna Petrova performs extensively as both soloist and chamber musician around the globe. She has been the recipient of top honors and awards at numerous competitions internationally, including the Queen Elisabeth and Jose Roca Competitions, and has appeared in recital in such revered venues as Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing.

An avid chamber musician Petrova is a member of two award-winning ensembles: the viola-piano Carr-Petrova Duo, and the clarinet-viola-piano Iris Trio. She serves as the Assistant Professor of Piano at the University of Louisville, Visiting Faculty at the Manhattan School of Music, and Visiting Professor of Piano and Chamber Music at Musical Arts Madrid in Spain.

About Iris Trio

Praised for their “beauty of sound and striking expression” (Bremen Weser Kurier), the Iris Trio (clarinetist Christine Carter, violist Zoë Martin-Doike, and pianist Anna Petrova) is known for their imaginative programming and powerhouse performances. 

Their 2013 debut at the German Consulate in New York City was met by a sold-out audience and followed by an immediate invitation to the prestigious Mozartfest in Würzburg, Germany. The Trio subsequently gave the world premiere of Christof Weiß’s Conversation Among Friends at the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Residence Palace and were featured in Michael Wende & Andreea Varga’s documentary, MozartLabor. They have since performed extensively across North America and Europe.

In 2018 the Iris Trio toured their project, Homage and Inspiration, across Germany, pairing works by Schumann and Mozart with modern tributes to these masterpieces by György Kurtág and Christof Weiß. The Bremen Weser Kurier commented on the ensemble’s “tremendously expressive, exciting and pointed performance,” the Amberger Zeitung remarked that “their ensemble playing is simply fabulous, perfectly balanced, admirable in its rhythmic security and virtuosity,” and the Augsburger Allgemeine offered "... it was a musical and lively performance, strong in the technical nuances, and with an exquisite balance of sound." The final concert of the tour took place at the renowned Sendesaal in Bremen, where the Trio recorded their debut album, Homage and Inspiration. The album was released in 2020 on the German Coviello Classics label to international acclaim. The Canadian Broadcasting Company named it “one of the top 10 upcoming Canadian albums to get excited about,” Spain’s Ritmo Magazine designated it a special release, noting that the Trio had “ admirable sound balance ... delicacy and profound knowledge,” and Fanfare Magazine praised the album as “a five-star, real stand-out release.”

The Iris Trio continues to commission and champion the work of inspiring living artists. Project Earth, their most recent interdisciplinary commissioning project, strives to illuminate the impact of human behavior on the environment, addressing issues of climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss, while recognizing the power of our collective imagination to create meaningful change. Through this multi-chapter project, the trio has collaborated with celebrated poets Don McKay and Karen Solie (both Griffin Poetry Prize winners), and internationally acclaimed Juno-nominated composers Florian Hoefner, Sarah Slean, and Andrew Downing.

The Iris Trio’s recent engagements include residencies at the University of Louisville, Kentucky and Memorial University in St. John’s, Canada, as well as concert tours in Canada and Europe. All three members of the Trio are active recitalists and educators in their own right. Collectively, they hold positions at Memorial University, the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra (New York City), and University of Louisville, and have performed around the world on major concert stages from Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall to the Amsterdam Concertgebouw and Sydney Opera House.

Iris Trio (photo: Joe Chase)
Christine Carter, Zoë Martin-Doike, Anna Petrova