The Morgenstern Trio has spent the last six days hopping across the country, taking its chamber ensemble sound from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to the Kalamazoo music festival in Michigan, on to Naples, Fla., and finally, making its Washington debut Thursday at the Kennedy Center. “Thanks to winning the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson International Trio Award in 2010, we get to many great places throughout the U.S.,” said cellist Emanuel Wehse. The trio has already made a name for itself touring throughout Germany, Austria and Finland. “Now, it is such a great honor to be playing at the [Kennedy Center] and we are so looking forward to playing in this wonderful hall.”

Wehse, pianist Catherine Klipfel and violinist Stefan Hempel named themselves for German poet, author and humorist Christian Morgenstern when they formed in 2005 at the Folkwang Academy in Essen. After two years of intensive work, they began collecting a cache of prestigious awards in their homeland. Numerous worldwide radio broadcasts followed, and in 2008, the ensemble made its debut recording, playing works by Beethoven and Brahms.