Eroica Piano Trio New Hampshire Debut Features An Evening Of Music By American Composers
KEENE, N.H., 1/8/08 - Hailed as one of the world’s great piano trios, The Eroica Trio will make its New Hampshire debut at Keene State College’s Redfern Arts Center on Brickyard Pond, on Wednesday, February 6, at 7:30 p.m. The program will feature an evening of works by American composers. The performance and a lecture demonstration by the group, which will be held in the Redfern’s Alumni Recital Hall from 2 to 3:30 p.m., is made possible by the sponsorship of Northeast Delta Dental.
The Grammy-nominated Eroica Trio is the most sought-after piano trio in the world. It thrills audiences with its technical virtuosity, irresistible enthusiasm, and sensual elegance. The Trio took its name from Beethoven’s passionate Third Symphony. Italian for “heroic,” eroica is a word that aptly reflects the ensemble’s approach to music.
Whether playing the great standards of the piano trio repertoire or daring contemporary works, the three young women who make up this celebrated ensemble electrify the concert stage with their performances of depth and precision. Winning the prestigious 1991 Naumburg Award resulted in a highly successful Lincoln Center debut, and Eroica has since toured the United States, Europe, and Asia. While maintaining its demanding concert schedule, it has released seven critically lauded recordings for Angel/EMI Classics Records, garnering multiple Grammy nominations.
The Eroica Trio’s Redfern program will feature four works composed or arranged for the piano trio repertoire. The evening will begin with Mark O’Connor’s Piano Trio no. 1 (“Poets and Prophets”). The Grammy Award-winning O’Connor is widely recognized as one of the most gifted contemporary, American composers and has frequently collaborated with such artists as Wynton Marsalis, Edgar Meyer, John Williams, and Yo-Yo Ma. The second work on the program will be Paul Schoenfield’s Café Music. The work combines ingredients of classical music, jazz, klezmer, and whimsy. Café Music is instantly accessible despite its rich complexities.
The second half of The Eroica Trio’s program will showcase works by two of America’s most beloved composers, Leonard Bernstein and George Gershwin. Raimundo Penaforte’s arrangements of Bernstein’s Westside Story and Gershwin’s jazz-inspired Three Preludes were specifically commissioned by The Eroica Trio. The Brazilian-born Penaforte has collaborated with notable musical artists such as Latin music star Rubén Blades, legendary folk icon Richie Havens, jazz luminary Maynard Ferguson, and Grammy Award-winner Chuck Mangione, and he has appeared nationally and internationally as a composer, conductor, and performer.
Tickets are available through the Brickyard Pond box office at 603-358-2168 or on the web at www.keene.edu/racbp. Prices are $24 for the general public, $22 for seniors and KSC faculty and staff, $12 for youth ages 17 and younger, and $5 for KSC students with an ID. Tickets for all of the Redfern’s Presenting Series events and performances by the departments of Music and Theatre and Dance are also available. Patrons can still purchase 20/20 memberships that enable them to receive a 20% discount for all Presenting Series performances.
