Kalichstein-Laredo-
Robinson Trio
“One of the best-blended, most sensitive and intelligent piano trios in the world today.”
- New York Times
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 more than 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 Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio opened their 2007-08 season with a special Beethoven Trio marathon at the 92nd Street Y. This one-day event featured the complete cycle of Beethoven piano trios in chronological order in three concerts. Other engagements throughout the season included concerts in Massachusetts, Arizona, North Carolina, Virginia, Washington, D.C. (Kennedy Center), Detroit, Miami, Indianapolis, Albuquerque, and back to 92nd Street Y for the New York premiere of Richard Danielpour’s piano quartet Books of Hours - a special commission for the Trio’s 30th anniversary last season.
The 2006-07 season saw 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 and Europe. In celebration of their first appearance at the Y 30 years ago, the Trio opened 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 gave the world premiere of composer Richard Danielpour’s piano quartet Book of Hours, a work commissioned for their 30th anniversary by 10 presenting organizations nationwide, at the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach, Florida. Other commissioners included 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. In April 2007, Carnegie Hall celebrated the Ensemble’s 30-year milestone with a program of Mozart, Kirchner and Schubert that included Pinchas Zukerman, viola, and Harold Robinson, bass. In addition, the Trio’s 2006-2007 tour brought 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) rounded off this special season.
On the recording front, The Ensemble has entered an exciting new partnership with KOCH International Classics. Their Arensky & Tchaikovsky disc was released in October 2006 to great acclaim. KOCH also re-released 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).
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 was the exciting young American group, the Claremont Trio, and the second award was presented to the Trio con Brio Copenhagen of Denmark.
The Trio recently performed for the Friends of Music in New Orleans with the intent to assist in support of our recovery post-Katrina.
