ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.—The 2009 Hudson Valley Chamber Music Circle (HVCMC) series at Bard College presents three concerts in June by world-renowned musicians. The Saturday evening concerts, presented by The Bard Center, begin at 8:00 p.m. in Olin Hall. A subscription to the three-concert series is $60 ($50 for senior citizens). Individual tickets are $28; for senior citizens, $20; for students, $5.

On Saturday, June 13, the Hudson Valley Chamber Music Circle presents the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio, “one of the best-blended, most sensitive and intelligent piano trios in the world today” (New York Times). The trio—pianist Joseph Kalichstein, violinist Jaime Laredo, and cellist Sharon Robinson—perform an all Schubert program: G minor Sonatina for violin and piano, Arpeggione Sonata for cello and piano, and Piano Trio in E-flat major, op. 100.

Performing on Saturday, June 20, is the Trio con Brio Copenhagen—violinist Soo-Jin Hong, cellist Soo-Kyung Hong, and pianist Jens Elvekjaer. “The Copenhagen plays with a single mind . . . each of the three is a virtuoso of the highest order” (Palm Beach Post). The repertoire includes Per Norgaard’s Spell, Shostakovich’s Piano trio in E minor, op. 67, and Mendelssohn’s Piano trio in C minor, op. 66.

The 2009 series concludes on Saturday, June 27, with the Emerson String Quartet—violinists Eugene Drucker and Philip Setzer, violist Lawrence Dutton, and cellist David Finckel. “The Emerson gives us playing of exceptional technical accomplishment and an unusually wide expressive range. They continually offer new insights into some endlessly enthralling music. Do hear them (Gramophone).” The Emerson String Quartet performs Ives’s String Quartet 1, Ravel’s String Quartet, and Dvořák’s “American” Quartet.

The Hudson Valley Chamber Music Circle, an association of chamber music lovers that is celebrating its 59th season, was founded by Helen Huntington Hull and two friends from Staatsburg, New York. They enlisted the help of violinist Emil Hauser, then a member of the Bard College faculty and original first violinist of the Budapest Quartet, to invite musicians to perform at the Mills and Vanderbilt Mansions. In 1979, the concert series began its association with Bard College. The HVCMC remains a venue that attracts many of the world’s preeminent chamber music artists. In 2000, Robinson and Laredo assumed artistic directorship of the chamber music series.

These performances are made possible, in part, through the generosity of the Homeland Foundation and the Leon Levy Endowment at Bard College, as well as the J. M. Kaplan Fund and the David G. Whitcomb Foundation. For further information, call 845-339-7907 or e-mail [email protected].

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About the Artists

Concert 1: June 13, 2009

Selected as Musical America’s 2002 Ensemble of the Year, the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio was described as the “. . . foremost trio with the greatest longevity . . . bring[ing] to worldwide audiences their expressive and exhilarating interpretations.” After three decades of great success, many recordings, and newly commissioned works, the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio continues to dazzle audiences and critics alike with their performances. Since making their debut 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 more than 30 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. More than 30 years after their White House debut, the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio kicked off the 2008–09 season at Wigmore Hall in London, with the complete Beethoven cycle. During their full season, the Trio presented the world premiere of Ellen Zwilich’s Septet in collaboration with the Miami String Quartet at New York City’s 92nd Street Y. The premiere of Zwilich’s piece marked her 70th birthday celebration in April 2009, and highlights one of the many pieces that have been commissioned for the Trio. Subsequent premieres will occur at the Kennedy Center, Detroit Chamber Music Society, and Virginia Arts Festival. The trio has worked extensively with the Miami String Quartet, as well as the Guarneri and Emerson String Quartets, allowing the opportunity to explore the rich literature for strings and piano. Another work that was written for them, “For Daniel” by Joan Tower, will be played in May by the trio in a concert devoted to Tower’s works at the Kennedy Center.

Concert 2: June 20, 2009

Trio con Brio Copenhagen—the Korean sisters Soo-Jin Hong and Soo-Kyung Hong and the Danish pianist Jens Elvekjaer—was the recipient in 2005 of the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson International Trio Award. This biennial award, one of the most coveted in the world of chamber music, honors in perpetuity the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio by encouraging and enhancing the career of an extraordinarily accomplished “rising” piano trio. The American Record Guide wrote of the Copenhagen trio’s début CD: “One of the greatest performances of chamber music I’ve ever encountered . . . What stands out from this ensemble is the range of tone and sound . . . They command an amazing range of timbres. Melodies sing with an aching sweetness, or seduce with wild eroticism, or haunt with impenetrable mystery.” Gramophone magazine wrote: “It’s easy to see what so impressed the judges . . . [the] performances can compete with the best available . . . airtight ensemble . . . a superb, greatly gifted chamber group.”  Founded in Vienna in 1999, the trio first drew attention with a sensational performance that took the highest prize at Germany’s prestigious ARD-Munich Competition in 2002. Since then, they have won first prize in several more competitions: Italy’s Premio Vittorio Gui (Florence), Norway’s Trondheim Chamber Music Competition, and the Danish Radio Competition. They also won the “Allianz Prize” for Best Ensemble in Germany’s Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and second prize in the Vienna Haydn Competition and the Premio Trio di Trieste (Italy, 2002). Critics have praised the trio for their “sparkling joie de vivre” and “magic dialogue”; a review of their performance at the Salzburg Mozarteum said, “they cast a spell over their audience . . . so alive, so musical . . . ravishing.” The trio’s schedule includes appearances at major concert halls in Europe, United States, and Asia, with additional appearances broadcast on the BBC, Korean Broadcasting Systems, Norwegian Radio, Swedish Radio, Radiotelevisione Italiana, and on the major German networks (ARD, NDR, Hessischer Rundfunk and Radio Berlin).

Concert 3: June 27, 2009

The Emerson String Quartet stands alone in the history of string quartets with an unparalleled list of achievements over three decades: 30 acclaimed recordings produced with Deutsche Grammophon since 1987, eight Grammy Awards (including two for Best Classical Album), three Gramophone Awards, the coveted Avery Fisher Prize, and cycles of the complete Beethoven, Bartók, Mendelssohn, and Shostakovich string quartets in the world’s musical capitals. The 2008–2009 season comprises more than 90 worldwide engagements, with a two-concert series at the Kennedy Center, a three-concert series at London’s Wigmore Hall and a pair of concerts at Queen Elizabeth Hall in the South Bank Centre, as well as three performances in Israel, where the quartet has not appeared since 1996. There are multiple stops in Spain, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Switzerland, and France, and a debut tour of South America. North American engagements feature a performance in Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium and concerts in San Francisco, Philadelphia, San Diego, Seattle, Boston, Montreal, Vancouver, Louisville, and Houston. In mid June, the Emerson plays three concerts as part of the Chicago Symphony's Dvořák series. The Quartet continues its residency at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., is Quartet-in-Residence at Stony Brook University, and is proud to participate in the grand reopening of Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall.

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(5/05/09)

(Editor’s Note: To schedule interviews with the musicians in advance of the concerts, e-mail [email protected] or call 845-758-7512.)

This event was last updated on 05-20-2009

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