The Program

Beethoven: Variations in E-flat Major, Op. 44
Mendelssohn: Piano Trio in D Minor, Op. 49
Brahms: Piano Quartet in G Minor, Op. 25

The Artists

After more than three decades of international concert success, acclaimed recordings, and a new legacy of commissioned works, the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio (pianist Joseph Kalichstein, violinist Jaime Laredo and cellist Sharon Robinson) continues to dazzle audiences and critics alike with their performances.  Since making their debut in January 1977 at the White House for the Carter’s Inauguration, the Trio has enjoyed a steady stream of honors and tributes.  Musical America named the Trio its 2002 Ensemble of the Year. Since the 2003-04 season, the Trio has been Chamber Ensemble in Residence at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. In 2003, the Chamber Music Society of Detroit established the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson International Trio Award (KLRITA) in honor of the Trio’s contribution to chamber music. The award is bestowed every two years to promising young piano trios.  Each Trio member also maintains an active solo performance and teaching career. Jaime Laredo and Sharon Robinson joined the faculty of the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in 2005 while Joseph Kalichstein continues as a long-revered teacher at the Juilliard School of Music.

Nokuthula Ngwenyama is acclaimed as an orchestral soloist, recitalist and chamber musician.  Gramophone proclaimed her playing as providing “solidly shaped music of bold, mesmerising character,” and The Washington Post described her as playing "with dazzling technique in the virtuoso fast movements and deep expressiveness in the slow movements.”  Ms. Ngwenyama came to international attention when she won the Primrose Competition and the Young Concert Artists International Auditions at age 17.  Plaudits followed her debut recitals in Washington, D.C. at the Kennedy Center and in New York at the 92nd Street Y, and in 1997 she received the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant.  Born in California of Zimbabwean-Japanese parentage, Ms. Ngwenyama graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music.  As a Fulbright scholar she attended the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique de Paris and received a Master of Theological Studies degree from Harvard University.  For more information on Nokuthula Ngwenyama visit www.ngwenyama.com.