After undergoing a rigorous audition process and spending a year coming together as musicians and as friends, the Leonard Bernstein Scholarship Trio of the Class of 2010 gave their first concert of the year. They performed as a mature ensemble, comfortable with each other and the stresses of performing. The concert, which took place Saturday afternoon at the Slosberg Recital Hall, was characterized by strong communication among the members of the trio and a sensitive musical balance that even some professional groups struggle to achieve.Members Joshua Chakoff on violin, Yoon-Jin Kim on cello and Karen Lowe on piano-all recipients of the Leonard Bernstein Scholarship, offered to exceptional players of violin, viola, cello or piano. The students reveive a full tuition scholarship, as well as personal tutelage from members of the Lydian String Quartet and other faculty members, on the condition that they perform as an ensemble and maintain a 3.0 GPA. Each year the program selects a handful of incoming first-years to receive the scholarship, which is renewed annually as long as the recipients met the requirements.

Speaking before the concert, Lowe said when the group first started rehearsing at the beginning of last year, "We were scared of each other-we were all afraid that we were the worst one in the group." Although the trio has now been together for a year, Lowe said their goal is still "to be more cohesive as a group."

That focus on collaboration and communication was very much on display during Saturday's concert, which featured Schubert's charming Piano Trio in B flat Major, Op. 99, and selections from Dvorak's "Dumky" Piano Trio No. 4 in E minor. The Schubert in particular often seemed like a spirited conversation among three very articulate friends, rather than simply a performance.

That's not to say that the trio managed to turn in a technically perfect performance-There were some sour notes and the "Andante un poco mosso" from the Schubert was occasionally a little gluey-but the musicians consistently played with verve and spirit, and each member of the ensemble had ample opportunity to showcase his or her individual talents as well.

The trio will have to take a break next year when Chakoff and Kim go abroad, but Lowe said she plans to find a way to keep playing chamber music until their return, possibly by teaming up with Leonard Bernstein scholars from other years.

Lowe said she's learned what it takes to create a truly balanced ensemble.

"You can't be a free-form diva," she said. Coming into the program, "I didn't have much chamber music experience," she said, but "[my experience with the LBS trio has] improved my playing."

Certainly all three of the LBS Trio performers have the talent to steal the stage, but from the Schubert's rousing first movement to its flirtatious finale, each student instead devoted his energy to creating a collaborative, seamless blend that was unquestionably greater than the sum of its parts.