ARTIST PROFILE

Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio

BIOGRAPHY

Since making their debut as The Kalichstein Laredo Robinson Trio at the White House for President Carter's Inauguration in January 1977, pianist Joseph Kalichstein, violinist Jaime Laredo and cellist Sharon Robinson have set the standard for performance of the piano trio literature for thirty years. As one of the only chamber ensembles with all its original members, The Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio balances the careers of three internationally-acclaimed soloists while making annual appearances at many of the world's major concert halls, commissioning spectacular new works, and maintaining an active recording agenda.

The 2006-07 season sees major commemorations of the Trio's 30th anniversary at Carnegie Hall, the 92nd Street Y and the Kennedy Center, in addition to other important venues in the United States. In celebration of their first appearance at the Y 30 years ago, the Trio will open the season for the 92nd Street Y in New York with the complete Brahms piano trios in October/November 2006, followed by the trio-version of Schoenberg's Verklaerte Nacht (arranged by Edward Steuermann) in December. Also in December, the Trio will give the world premiere of composer Richard Danielpour's Piano Quartet, a work commissioned for their 30th anniversary by 10 presenting organizations nationwide, at the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach, Florida. The other commissioners, including the 92nd Street Y in New York, the Kennedy Center, La Jolla Chamber Music Society, Islip Arts Council, Detroit Chamber Music Society, Tucson Friends of Music, University of Iowa, Hudson Valley Chamber Music Circle and El Paso Pro Musica, will present the new work either this season or next.

In April, Carnegie Hall will celebrate the Ensemble's 30-year milestone with a program of Mozart, Kirchner and Schubert that includes Pinchas Zukerman, viola, and Harold Robinson, bass. In addition, the Trio's 2006-2007 tour will bring them to Philadelphia, Boston, La Jolla, Miami, Fort Worth, El Paso, Tucson, Princeton and Calgary. A European tour to Hamburg, Oldenburg and Erlangen (Germany), Lisbon (Portugal) and Copenhagen (Denmark) is also scheduled for January 2007.

On the recording front, The Ensemble will enter an exciting new partnership with KOCH International Classics. The projected release date for their new Arensky & Tchaikovsky disc is set for October 2006. KOCH will also re-release many of The Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio's hallmark recordings, including chamber works of Maurice Ravel, A Child's Reliquary (piano trio) and In the Arms of the Beloved (double concerto) by Richard Danielpour, the complete sonatas and trios of Shostakovich, trios by Pärt, Zwilich, Kirchner and Silverman written especially for the group, and their beloved collection of the complete Beethoven Trios. Other highlights of their vast discography include a critically acclaimed all-Haydn CD (Dorian), recordings of the complete Mendelssohn and Brahms Trios (Vox Cum Laude), Beethoven's Kakadu Variations and the Archduke Trio (MCA Classics), as well as Beethoven Triple Concerto with the English Chamber Orchestra (Chandos).

In December 2001, Musical America named The Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio the Ensemble of the Year for 2002. More recently, they were awarded the first annual Samuel Sanders Collaborative Artists Award by the Foundation for Recorded Music. And the 2003-04 season was their first as Chamber Ensemble in Residence at the Kennedy Center. The steady stream of honors marks the high esteem the classical music field holds for The Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio.

For the past seasons (2004-06), The Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio maintained a heavy touring and teaching schedule, with dates in Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco, Detroit, Dallas, Cincinnati, Portland, Florida, North Carolina, Texas, the Tanglewood Music Festival in Massachusetts, as well as two European tours in November 2005 and May 2006, including appearances in Great Britain (Wigmore Hall, London), Lisbon, Amsterdam (the Concertgebouw), Spain and Germany. They've collaborated extensively with the Miami String Quartet and the Guarneri Quartet, allowing opportunities to explore the rich literature for strings and piano.

Jaime Laredo and Sharon Robinson joined the faculty of the Indiana University School of Music in 2005, while Joseph Kalichstein continued as a long-revered teacher at The Juilliard School.

Memorable concerts over the years include The Kalichstein Laredo Robinson Trio's performance on Carnegie Hall's Centennial Series; several tours of Japan, New Zealand and Australia; a Brahms series with the Guarneri Quartet featuring his entire literature for piano and strings; the Beethoven cycle on Lincoln Center's Great Performers Series - the first time the complete Beethoven piano trios were performed at Lincoln Center - and performances with orchestras across America and Europe of new concertos written especially for the Trio by David Ott and Pulitzer Prize winner Ellen Taaffe Zwilich.

In Europe, The Kalichstein Laredo Robinson Trio has performed in Amsterdam, Brussels, Copenhagen, Hamburg, Lisbon, London, Vienna, and Paris, as well as at major international music festivals in Aldeburgh, Edinburgh, Granada, Helsinki, Highlands, South Bank, Stresa and Tivoli. They have toured the British Isles with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra in performances of solo, double and triple concertos and have recorded the Beethoven Triple Concerto with the English Chamber Orchestra for Chandos.

The Trio is honored that the Chamber Music Society of Detroit has created The Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson International Trio Award (KLRITA), an initiative with a two-fold purpose: to salute the Trio's contribution to chamber music worldwide and to encourage and enhance the careers of promising young piano trios. The KLRITA, in which 20 presenters nationwide participate, is awarded to a new ensemble every two years. The first ensemble is the exciting young American group, the Claremont Trio, and the second award has just been presented to the Trio con Brio Copenhagen of Denmark.