Claremont Trio:
Emily Bruskin, violin
Julia Bruskin, cello
Andrea Lam, piano
Lauded as “one of America’s finest young chamber groups” Strad Magazine, the Claremont Trio is sought after for their thrillingly virtuosic and richly communicative performances. First winners of the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson International Trio Award and the only piano trio ever to win the Young Concert Artists International Auditions, the Claremonts are consistently lauded for their “aesthetic maturity, interpretive depth, and exuberance” (Palm Beach Daily News).
During the 2012-13 season the Claremont Trio returns to prestigious venues including Chamber Music Cincinatti, the Buffalo Chamber Music Society, Duke Performances, the Chamber Music Society of Bethlehem, and New York’s Lincoln Center, where they will collaborate again with Rob Kapilow in his “What Makes It Great” series. They conclude their series in honor of the opening of Calderwood Hall at Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, pairing three world premiere commissions by Sean Shepherd, Helen Grime and Gabriela Lena Frank with a survey of trios by Mozart and Mendelssohn. They will also perform these new commissioned works at Brooklyn’s exciting club venue, Roulette, and will perform at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, DC. Summer festival appearances this year include the Austin Chamber Music Festival, Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival, Monadnock Music, the Honest Brook Chamber Music Festival and a return to the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival in Detroit as part of its 20th anniversary season.
Bridge Records released the Claremont Trio’s newest recording of the Beethoven “Triple” Concerto with the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra and Beethoven’s Trio Op. 1 No. 1 this winter to critical acclaim. Of the Claremonts’ previous CD of Trios by Beethoven & Ravel, one reviewer raved “These are some of the most impassioned, moving, and notable readings of these favorites that I have ever heard, bar none. I am especially picky about the Beethoven, one of my favorites and to this point best projected by the legendary Istomin-Stern-Rose Trio, but the Claremont has their measure fully, and this is something I never thought I would say” (Audiophile Audition). The Trio eagerly anticipates the upcoming release of another recording featuring trios by New York composer Robert Paterson, including his monumental “Sun Trio” and a new trio written for the Claremonts. Their prolific discography also includes “Mendelssohn Trios,” a Russian disc of Shostakovich and Arensky, and “American Trios” with works by Leon Kirchner, Ellen Zwilich, Paul Schoenfield, and Mason Bates. Their collaborative disc with clarinetist Jonathan Cohler encompassing works by Beethoven, Brahms, and Dohnanyi garnered a glowing review in Fanfare magazine and received a Critic’s CHOICE award from BBC Magazine.
The Claremont Trio’s recent seasons included engagements at the Kennedy Center, Boston’s Celebrity Series, Friends of Chamber Music-Denver, the Sanibel Music Festival, Chicago’s Dame Myra Hess Series, Pasadena’s Coleman Chamber Music Association, Johns Hopkins University, the JCC of Greater Washington, the Austin Chamber Music Festival, St. Paul’s Music in the Park, Stanford Lively Arts, Kansas City Friends of Chamber Music, Dayton’s Vanguard Concerts, and Jacksonville’s Riverside Fine Arts Association, along with the Chamber Music Societies of Phoenix, Dallas, Sedona, San Antonio, Buffalo, Bethlehem (PA), and Logan (UT), and the Universities of Washington, Wisconsin, and Missouri. The Trio was recently ensemble in residence at the Laguna Beach Live Festival and at the National Conference of the Suzuki Association of the Americas. The Claremonts continue to maintain a strong New York presence with frequent performances at such venues as Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, Columbia University’s Miller Theatre, Music Mondays and Symphony Space as well as the downtown venues of Joe’s Pub and Le Poisson Rouge. They also appear regularly at festivals such as Ravinia, Saratoga, Mostly Mozart, Caramoor, Rockport, Bard, and Norfolk.
Believing that education on all levels is essential to the future of classical music, the Claremont Trio is extensively involved in teaching the next generation of musicians and music lovers. This year they continue their visiting residency at Longwood University, Hampden Sydney College, and Lynchburg College as the Central Virginia Ensemble-in-Residence. Sought after for their effectiveness in the classroom as well as on the concert stage, the Trio frequently conducts residencies, master classes, and educational outreach activities. They have conducted master classes at the Eastman School of Music, Columbia University, Duke University, Peabody Conservatory’s Preparatory Division, Boston Conservatory, Purchase College at SUNY, Middlebury College, the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh, Longy School of Music, the University of Washington, Kansas State University, and Gettysburg College’s Sunderman Conservatory.
Deeply committed to expanding the trio repertoire, the Trio works actively with composers on new works. They have commissioned new trios by Nico Muhly, Gabriela Lena Frank, Mason Bates, Sean Shepherd, Helen Grime, Judd Greenstein, Donald Crockett, Robert Paterson, Paul Chihara, Sharon Farber, Howard Frazin, Daniel Kellogg, and Hillary Zipper, and have an ongoing collaboration with innovative composer and violinist Daniel Bernard Roumain.
The group frequently performs the Beethoven Triple Concerto with orchestras such as the Nashville Symphony, Virginia Symphony, Pacific Symphony, and Utah Symphony. They have collaborated with Peter Martins, director of the New York City Ballet, on a ballet based on Paul Schoenfield’s “Cafe Music,” and have also been privileged to perform with many distinguished guest artists including Toby Appel, Beth Guterman, Joseph Kalichstein, Martha Katz, Jaime Laredo, Ida Kavafian, Robert McDonald, Nokuthula Ngwenyama, Sharon Robinson, and Richard Young.
Featured often on Japanese and American television, the Claremont Trio is also heard on radio stations throughout the U.S. and abroad, including Australia’s ABC, New York’s WQXR, Boston’s WGBH, Chicago’s WFMT, Austin’s KPAC, Salt Lake City’s KBYU, and Columbia University’s WKCR.
The Claremont Trio was formed in 1999 at the Juilliard School. Twin sisters Emily Bruskin (violin) and Julia Bruskin (cello) grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and they both play old French instruments. Emily’s violin is a Lupot from 1795; Julia’s cello is a J.B. Vuillaume from 1849. Andrea Lam (piano) grew up in Sydney, Australia. The Claremonts are all now based in New York City near their namesake: Claremont Avenue.
For more information about the Claremont Trio, please visit www.claremonttrio.com.
