Angella Ahn, one-third of the classical music ensemble the Ahn Trio, appreciates that People magazine credits the group with turning the MTV generation on to chamber music.

But one demographic does not a complete audience make. “It’s so important for us to be able to say that our music appeals to absolutely everyone,” Ahn said.

Her sisters, twins Maria and Lucia Ahn, make up the other two-thirds of the Ahn Trio, which will open the 2005-06 Babcock Fine Arts Center season at Sweet Briar College. The performance will be on Wednesday, Sept. 7 at 7:30 p.m. at Babcock Fine Arts Center in Murchison Lane Auditorium.

The Korean-born sisters learned to play the piano as young children. As Lucia excelled on that instrument, Maria took up the cello and Angella the violin. At ages 9 and 7, the family moved to the United States, where all three enrolled in the Juilliard School. They have toured together for 11 years, “stubbornly” playing the kind of music they want to play and grateful that audiences appreciate it, Angella Ahn said.

“It’s definitely modern, not conventional. But it is very serious classical music that is not dissonant and is absolutely possible to understand,” she said.

The trio performs the works of contemporary composers and often collaborates with artists in other genres, such as an Argentine tango band. To talk about the upcoming concert at Sweet Briar, Ahn took a break from preparing arrangements for a performance with singer-songwriter and guitarist Susie Suh.

Although not working from scratch, their compositions need the right harmonies and notes to fit the performance. “It’s been exciting because it’s not something we do all the time,” Ahn said.

More and more, Angella Ahn thinks the group is “breaking barriers between musical genres” while staying true to a form she calls “classical alternative.”

“We come from the classical world but we’re constantly excited by new music and working with new artists,” she said.

Tickets are $8, adults; $5, seniors; and $3, students and may be reserved in advance by contacting the Babcock Theatre Box Office at (434) 381-6120 or Shelbie Filson, box office manager, at sfilson@sbc.edu. Admission is free for SBC faculty, staff, students and alumnae, and for children younger than 12. Members of the Sweet Briar community also can secure tickets from noon to 1 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays in the Prothro atrium.

— By Jennifer McManamay, SBC staff writer