CLAREMONT TRIO

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2017
5:00 PM
CHESTER MEETING HOUSE

SPONSORED BY KEY BANK

About the Claremont Trio

Lauded as “one of America’s finest young chamber groups” by Strad Magazine, the Claremont Trio is sought after for their thrillingly virtuosic and richly communicative performances. First-place winners of the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson International Trio Award and the only piano trio ever to win the Young Concert Artists International Auditions, the Claremonts are consistently lauded for their “aesthetic maturity, interpretive depth, and exuberance.”

The Claremont Trio was formed in 1999 at the Juilliard School by twin sisters Emily Bruskin (violin) and Julia Bruskin (cello) from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Andrea Lam (piano) from Sydney, Australia. The Claremonts are all now based in New York City near their namesake: Claremont Avenue.

While performing worldwide as a trio and individually as soloists, the Claremonts continue to maintain a strong New York presence with frequent performances at such venues as Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, Columbia University’s Miller Theatre, Music Mondays, and Symphony Space as well as the downtown venues of Joe’s Pub and Le Poisson Rouge. They also appear regularly at festivals such as Ravinia, Saratoga, Mostly Mozart, Caramoor, Rockport, Bard, and Norfolk.

Bridge Records released the Claremont Trio’s newest recording of the Beethoven “Triple” Concerto with the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra and Beethoven’s Trio Op. 1 No. 1 last year to critical acclaim. Of the Claremonts’ previous CD of “Trios by Beethoven & Ravel,” one reviewer raved, “These are some of the most impassioned, moving, and notable readings of these favorites that I have ever heard, bar none.” Their prolific discography also includes “Mendelssohn Trios,” a Russian disc of Shostakovich and Arensky, and “American Trios” with works by Leon Kirchner, Ellen Zwilich, Paul Schoenfield, and Mason Bates.

Emily Bruskin has performed as violin soloist with the Virginia, Pacific, San Francisco Ballet, Utah, and Nashville Symphonies and has given recitals across the country and around the world in venues such as Carnegie Hall, the American Academy in Rome, the Kennedy Center, and Boston’s Jordan Hall. Ms. Bruskin has appeared at the Saratoga, Mostly Mozart, Caramoor, and Ravinia festivals and has given master classes at Columbia University, the Eastman School of Music, and Duke University. Ms. Bruskin was a grand prizewinner of the Young Concert Artists International Auditions and received BBC Magazine’s Critic’s Choice Award and the Classical Recording Foundation’s Young Artist Award. A graduate of the Columbia-Juilliard program, she holds degrees in Neuroscience and in Music.

Since her concerto debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at age 17, cellist Julia Bruskin has established herself as one of the premiere cellists of her generation.  Her recent CD of music by Beethoven, Brahms, and Dohnanyi was praised by Fanfare Magazine for its “exquisite beauty of sound and expression.”  Ms. Bruskin won first prize in the Schadt String Competition and was a prizewinner in the International Johannes Brahms Competition in Austria. She plays frequent solo recitals with her husband, Aaron Wunsch, and Collomore Music Series attendees will remember their brilliant performance opening the 2015 Collomore Season. Sought after as a teacher, Ms. Bruskin has given master classes at the Eastman School of Music, the Peabody Conservatory, the Conservatory at SUNY Purchase, the Boston Conservatory, Duke University and Middlebury College. Ms. Bruskin currently teaches at the Juilliard Pre-College and is on the cello faculty of the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College.

Australian pianist Andrea Lam is gaining recognition for her “great style and thrilling virtuosity.” In recent years, she has given over seventy performances with orchestras in Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Japan, and Hong Kong. She has worked with renowned conductors including Alan Gilbert, Edo de Waart, Michael Christie, and Marcus Stenz. Andrea Lam was a semifinalist in the 2009 Van Cliburn Competition. In 2009, she was also the silver medalist at the San Antonio Piano Competition, where she won additional prizes for the Best Classical performance and Best Russian performance. Ms. Lam holds degrees from the Yale School of Music, where she studied with Boris Berman, and the Manhattan School of Music, where she studied with Arkady Aronov.

Program

Trio in D minor, Op. 11                            Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel  (1805-1847)
Allegro molto vivace
Andante expressivo
Lied: Allegretto
Finale: Allegretto moderato

Queen of Hearts (2017)                           Kati Agocs b. 1975

Intermission 

Trio No. 1 in D minor, Op. 49                Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)

Molto Allegro agitato
Andante con moto tranquillo
Scherzo: Leggiero e vivace
Finale: Allegro assai appassionato

At the conclusion of the program, members of the audience are invited to meet the artists at a reception with refreshments, which have been graciously donated by The Wheat Market