Sunday, May 18 at 4 PM

Program

Trio in B-flat major, Op. 97 "Archduke" (1811) ................................ Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
..... Allegro moderato
..... Scherzo: Allegro
..... Andante cantabile, ma però con moto
..... Allegro moderato

-Intermission-

Trio No. 1 in B-flat major, D. 898 (1826) Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
..... Allegro moderato
..... Andante un poco mosso
..... Scherzo: Allegro
..... Rondo: Allegro vivace

The Peabody Trio is represented by
BesenArts LLC
508 First Street, Suite 4W
Hoboken, NJ 07030-7823
www.BesenArts.com

The Peabody Trio records for Artek Recordings
www.peabodytrio.org

The Peabody Trio Biography

Violaine Melançon, violin
Natasha Brofsky, cello
Seth Knopp, piano

Since winning the prestigious Naumburg Chamber Music Award in 1989, The Peabody Trio has established itself as an important presence in the chamber music world as vivid interpreters of the classics of the repertoire, advocates for new music, and dedicated teachers and mentors to a generation of young musicians. They bring to their music making what The Washington Post calls "the romantic fervor of the 20th century greats."

The Peabody Trio gave its New York debut in 1990 at Alice Tully Hall and has since performed in the most important chamber music series in North America, including New York, Washington, Chicago, Denver, Vancouver, Montreal, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego. Internationally, they tour frequently in England, making repeat appearances at London's Wigmore Hall, and in Japan and Israel. Their reputation as champions of new music garnered them an invitation to the first Biennale for contemporary music, Tempus Fugit, in Tel Aviv.

Festivals including Tanglewood, Skaneateles, Cape and Islands, and Rockport have played home to their summer performances. Their radio broadcasts include performances on Saint Paul Sunday Morning, NPR's Performance Today, Morning Pro Musica, CBC, Radio-Canada, WGBH in Boston, and WQXR in New York. The Peabody Trio collaborates frequently with such eminent artists as clarinetist Charles Neidich, violists Roger Tapping and Maria Lambros, soprano Phyllis Bryn-Julson, and actor Andre De Shields. Working with Walter van Dyck and Elizabeth Mansfield, The Peabody Trio is at the forefront of chamber music theater with a series of innovative, collaborative projects involving piano trio and actor.

The Peabody Trio currently serves as the resident faculty ensemble of the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, a position they have held since 1989. They are frequently asked to perform educational residencies for chamber music organizations and have served as visiting professors at universities and conservatories both in the United States and abroad. They spend summers as ensemble-in-residence at the Yellow Barn Music School and Festival in Putney, Vermont.

The Peabody Trio celebrates its twentieth season in 2007-08 with the release of the Beethoven Trios Opus 1, Nos. 1 and 3 on Artek Records, the second in their series of the complete piano trios of Beethoven. In 2004 the trio released their recording of the Beethoven Opus 70 Trios on Artek, praised by Strad Magazine as "some of the most accomplished Beethoven Trio playing …heard in many a year." Previously they have recorded for New World Records and CRI.

[June 2007]

The Peabody Trio Individual Biographies

Violinist VIOLAINE MELANÇON, is from Quebec, Canada. After receiving First Prize in violin at the Conservatoire de Musique she continued her studies with Ivan Galamian at the Curtis Institute of Music and with Isadore Tinkleman at the San Francisco Conservatory. While at Curtis, she was a member of the Nisaika Quartet, prize winner of the 8th International String Quartet Competition in Evian, France. Ms. Melançon is also the recipient of many awards for solo performance including the 1984 Prix d'Europe. Since then, her activities as a chamber musician, soloist with orchestras, and teacher have taken her to many major Canadian and American music centers, Europe, the Middle East, and Japan.

Cellist NATASHA BROFSKY grew up in New York City. With degrees from the Eastman School and Mannes College, her teachers have included Marion Feldman, Robert Sylvester, Paul Katz and Timothy Eddy. In 1987 she was awarded a Fulbright Grant to study with William Pleeth in London, and while there she won the Muriel Taylor Cello Prize. She subsequently held principal positions in the Norwegian Radio Orchestra and the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra. An active chamber musician, Natasha Brofsky has played with many fine ensembles in the USA and Europe, including the Takacs, Cassatt, and Norwegian quartets, and the Colorado Chamber Players. She has performed regularly in Scandinavia, Austria, and Germany as a member of the string trio opus 3 and the Serapion Ensemble, and she recorded Olav Anton Thommessen's cello concerto with the Oslo Sinfonietta for Aurora Records. She has been a frequent guest at numerous international festivals, including Prussia Cove, Oslo, Music from Salem, Crested Butte, and Portland. She is also a committed teacher, having served on the faculty at Barratt-Due's Music Institute in Oslo, and as guest faculty at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Ms. Brofsky joined the cello faculty of the New England Conservatory in 2004 and was recently appointed Assistant Chair of Strings at the school.

Pianist SETH KNOPP studied at the New England Conservatory and San Francisco Conservatory. His teachers have included Leonard Shure and Leon Fleisher. He has performed with symphony and chamber orchestras in the United States and has collaborated in concert with such artists as Bonnie Hampton, Nicholas Mann, Kurt Ollman, and the Cavani Quartet. In 1983, Mr. Knopp and violinist Violaine Melançon formed the Knopp-Melançon Duo, an artistic collaboration which began when both performers were students. Since that time, this husband and wife team has performed throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Japan, and Egypt. In 1987, as a result of having been appointed USIA Artistic Ambassadors, the Knopp-Melançon Duo toured abroad extensively and made their Washington debut at the Kennedy Center. Currently, Mr. Knopp is Artistic Director of the Yellow Barn Music School and Festival in Putney, Vermont, and is on the piano and chamber music faculties at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore.

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