Lysander Piano Trio
April 9, 2024
The Lysander Piano Trio has been praised by "The Strad" for its “incredible ensemble, passionate playing, articulate and imaginative ideas and wide palette of colors” and by "The Washington Post" for “an uncommon degree of heart-on-the-sleeve emotional frankness” and “vivid engagement carried by soaring, ripely Romantic playing.”
The group has developed a reputation for exciting programming, finding creative ways to connect well-known masterworks with pieces by lesser-known and underrepresented composers, discovering common threads across cultures and times. The Trio’s debut recording After A Dream (CAG Records) was acclaimed by "The New York Times" for its “polished and spirited interpretations.” Its most recent album, "Mirrors," featuring world-premiere recordings of six works the ensemble has commissioned or premiered, was released in early 2021 by First Hand Records.
A Decade Plus of Performances
The Lysander Piano Trio has spent over a decade performing around the US with appearances at notable venues such as the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater, Los Angeles’ Da Camera Society, San Francisco’s Music at Kohl Mansion, West Palm Beach's Kravis Center and Norton Museum of Art, Juneau Jazz and Classics, and notable college venues including Middlebury College, Clemson University, Purdue University’s Convocations Series, and University of Illinois’ Krannert Center. Summer and festival appearances include the Bard Music Festival, Cooperstown Summer Music Festival, Copenhagen Summer Festival, The Chautauqua Institution, Princeton University Summer Chamber Concerts, and a critically acclaimed recital at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
Rich Sound and Nuanced Musicianship
The Lysander Piano Trio frequently performs in New York City, where the ensemble first launched in the 2010-11 season. "The New York Times" lauded the ensemble’s Weill Recital Hall debut at Carnegie Hall as “…rich sound and nuanced musicianship…resulting in a finely hued collaboration among the three musicians.” And the Trio has a long-standing commitment to working with living composers and building a new repertoire for the piano trio. The ensemble’s commissions include Gilad Cohen’s Around the Cauldron (2017), co-commissioned by Concert Artists Guild and premiered at Weill Recital Hall; Ghostwritten Variations, by Venezuelan-American composer Reinaldo Moya; Jakub Ciupinski’s The Black Mirror; and Four Movements Inspired by “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” penned by four pre-teen composers of ComposerCraft from NYC’s Kaufman Music Center and premiered at Merkin Concert Hall.
Juilliard Connections
The Lysander Piano Trio, whose name is inspired by the character in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, was formed at The Juilliard School. The Trio studied with Ronald Copes of the Juilliard String Quartet, the late Joseph Kalichstein and Seymour Lipkin, and had a memorable masterclass with Alfred Brendel. Early in their career, Lysander became a standout at competitions, with top honors at the 2010 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, the 2011 Coleman Chamber Ensemble Competition (Grand Prize), the 2011 J. C. Arriaga Chamber Music Competition (First Prize), and the 2012 Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition.
Learn more at www.lysandertrio.com
Concert Program
Trio élégiaque No. 1 in G Minor (1892) | Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)
Two Nguni Dances (2009) | Bongani Ndodana-Breen (b. 1975)
I. Inyanga
II. Intsomi
Nostos (2022) | Udi Perlman (b. 1990)
~~intermission~~
Piano Trio Op. 97, "Archduke" | Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
I. Allegro moderato
II. Scherzo: Allegro
III. Andante cantabile ma però con moto—Poco più adagio
IV. Allegro moderato—Presto
**The Lysander Piano Trio appears by arrangement with Dinin Arts Management & Consulting**