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Eroica Trio to Perform November 22
Saturday evening at 8 on November 22 in the Bartlesville Community Center, Adams and Cherokee, the Bartlesville Symphony Orchestra with Lauren Green , music director-conductor, will welcome the world renowned Eroica Trio for a performance of the Beethoven Triple Concerto. Eroica Trio has performed this concerto more frequently than any other trio in the world, having appeared with the symphonies of Chicago , St. Louis , San Francisco , Utah , Mostly Mozart Orchestra, Cincinnati , Atlanta , Pittsburgh , Houston and Seattle . Touring abroad, they have played the work with Orquesta S info nica de Euskadi in Spain , Haydn Orchestra in Italy and Budapest Symphony in Germany . They have been touring in the U. S. with the Prague Chamber Orchestra in October and November, 2003 and their new CD of the Triple Concerto has recently been released for Angel/EMI. They are looking forward to a world premiere of a new work composed for the Trio by composer-violinist Mark O'Connor at Montalvo Center for the Performing Arts in Saratoga , CA in March, 2004. In June 2003, they appeared at Carnegie Hall as part of Steinway and Sons' 150th anniversary gala concert.
The Eroica Trio took its name from Beethoven's passionate Third Symphony, Italian for "heroic," a word reflecting the ensemble's approach to its art. This Trio is in the forefront of a new generation of artists who are changing the face of classical music; it is one of the first female chamber ensembles to reach the top echelons of its field. They are helping break an age-old gender barrier.
These artists have electrified the concert stage with their combination of technical virtuosity, vivid artistic interpretation, and contagious exuberance in performance. A critic for The San Francisco Examiner stated "It's been decades since this country has produced a chamber music organization with this much passion." After winning the prestigious 1991 Naumburg Award, which resulted in an acclaimed Lincoln Center debut, they have since toured the U. S. , Europe and Asia . They have released 6 celebrated recordings for Angel/EMI with multiple Grammy nominations.
The Eroica Trio is committed to music education, giving concerts, master-classes and special children's shows at schools and colleges throughout the country. Each summer, the Trio performs at music festivals throughout the world, including the Hollywood Bowl, Aspen , Mostly Mozart, Ravinia, and Spoleto , Italy . They have also appeared on many television programs including ABC's The View , CNN's Showbiz Today , CBS and ABC News, CBS The Morning Show and Saturday Morning, A & E Breakfast with the Arts, The Isaac Mizrahi Show, Pure Oxygen, Bloomberg TV and Fox's The Crier Report. A special documentary, "Eroica!" will air on the PBS series Independent Lens on December 9, 2003 .
Magazines have featured the group, including Elle, Glamour, Vanity Fair, Detour, Marie Claire, Bon Appetit, Time Out New York , Strings, Piano, Gramophone, Chamber Music and Strad.
Grand Marnier created a new cocktail dubbed The Eroica , unveiled for the release of the "Pasion" recording. A vintage Riesling has been named in their honor by Chateau Sainte Michelle, a vineyard in Seattle .
The women who comprise the Eroica Trio are all top-ranked, award-winning soloists and have performed on many of the world's great stages. Pianist Erika Nickrenz made her concerto debut at New York 's Town Hall at age 11 and was a featured soloist on the PBS series Live from Lincoln Center . In the spring of 2003 she gave a performance and rang the opening bell for the New York Stock Exchange as part of Steinway's 150th anniversary celebration.
Violinist Adela Pena was awarded first prize at the Washington International Competition and has toured extensively as soloist in the U.S. Europe and South America . She has appeared with the English Chamber Orchestra, in recital at Carnegie Hall and on live European television, broadcast from Paris .
Cellist Sara Sant'Ambrogio's internation successes include winning a medal at the prestigious International Tchaikovsky Violincello Competition in Moscow , resulting in tours across North America , Europe and the Middle East , culminating in a Carnegie Hall recital, broadcast on national television. She won a Grammy award for her recording of Leonard Bernstein's Arias and Barcaroles. In addition, she has enjoyed collaborating on rock, pop and jazz CDs and movie soundtracks. She will appear with Olympia Dukakis in an independent film this year.
The Trio members have known each other since childhood; Erika and Adela began performing together at age nine. Erika and Sara studied piano and chamber music with Isabelle Sant'Ambrogio, Sara's grandmother, three years later. Adela coached chamber music with Sara's father and first teacher, John Sant'Ambrogio, principal cellist of the St. Lous Symphony. In the early years of the Eroica Trio, coaches included Mr. Sant'Ambrogio, as well as Erica's father, the noted violist Scott Nickrenz. Joanna Nickrenz, Erika's mother and three-time Grammy Award winner, produced five of its CDs.
The Trio has worked on creating a unique identity by mounting innovative programs that span 300 years of music. They might include Vivaldi's Baroque symmetries, Brahm's passion and Paul Schoenfield's contemporary Cafe` Music with its echoes of jazz, spiritual and theatre music. Last season the Eroica Trio premiered Daniel Schnyder's Trio in America . The New York Times states "They play chamber music for the concert hall. There is an edge of the seat intensity to every note they produce."
The Bartlesville Symphony Orchestra concert will feature the Eroica Trio performing the Beethoven Triple Concerto; the concert will begin with two transcriptions of J. S. Bach chorale preludes and the second half of the program will be the Brahms Symphony #1. Reserved seat tickets are $20 for adults and $7.50 for students plus handling fee. A discounted season subscription for the 4 remaining concerts is available for $75 for adults and $25 for students. Ticket info rmation is available by calling the Community Center box office at 918-336-2787 or or 800-627-2787. Remaining concerts will be January 17 celebrating the Lewis and Clark expedition bicentennial with the Bartlesville Choral Society; March 6 with award winning pianist Michael Schneider; and May 15 Beachfront playing "Jukebox Gold' music of the 50s and 60s, and of course, the Eroica Trio on November 22.
Lauren Green will provide interesting background on the music to be played on the concert and will be available to answer questions in the popular Upbeat! with Lauren, free to ticketholders at 7 pm , immediately preceding the concert in the concert hall.
The Eroica Trio concert is sponsored by Home National Bank. Additional concert season assistance has been generously given by ConocoPhillips, Ernst and Young LLP, State Arts Council of Oklahoma and the National Endowment for the Arts, along with many corporate and private donations.
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