MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Beethoven: Triple Concerto Op 56 / Trio for Piano, Violin and Cello Op 11

Audiences around the world respond with standing ovations to what critics call the "gusto" and "heart stopping mastery" of the Grammy-nominated Eroica Trio. Whether they are playing the great standards of the piano trio repertoire or daring contemporary works, the three young women who make up this world-class chamber ensemble electrify the concert stage with their combination of technical virtuosity, vivid artistic interpretation, and contagious exuberance in performance. The Trio won the prestigious 1991 Naumburg Award, resulting in an acclaimed Lincoln Center Debut and has since toured the United States, Europe, and Asia. While maintaining this demanding concert schedule, the Eroica has released five celebrated recordings for Angel/EMI Classics Records, garnering multiple Grammy nominations.

During the 2002-2003 season, the Eroica Trio performs throughout the United States and abroad. Highlights of the season include tours of Spain, Italy, Germany, Australia and New Zealand, as well as a star-studded concert at Carnegie Hall celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Steinway and Sons. In 2001-2002, the Trio premiered Kevin Kaska's Triple Concerto with the St. Louis Symphony and conductor Hans Vonk, and undertook an extensive tour of Asia and the United States.

The Eroica Trio performs the Beethoven Triple Concerto more frequently than any other trio in the world, having appeared with the Chicago Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Utah Symphony and Mostly Mozart Orchestra. This season, the group will perform the Triple in the United States with the Cincinnati, Buffalo, Columbus, Houston and Seattle Symphonies, and on tour abroad with Orquesta Sinfonica de Euskadi in Spain, Haydn Orchestra in Italy and Budapest Symphony in Germany.

The Eroica Trio is on the vanguard of a new generation of artists who are changing the face of classical music. One of the first all-female chamber ensembles to reach the top echelons of its field, the Eroica Trio is helping to break an age-old gender barrier. As the Chicago Sun Times remarked "Our image of the piano trio is largely formed by groups like the celebrated [original] Beaux Arts, three middle-aged gentlemen who apply their wisdom and artistry to their chosen repertory. That image is about to change." The Trio took its name from Beethoven's passionate Third Symphony. Italian for "heroic," it is a word that aptly reflects the ensemble's approach to their art. As critics have noted, "It's been decades since this country has produced a chamber music organization with this much passion." (The San Francisco Examiner)
The Trio has established a unique identity by creating innovative programs that span 300 years of music. A typical Eroica Trio concert might include the Baroque symmetries of Vivaldi, the passion of Brahms, and Paul Schoenfield's contemporary Café Music with its echoes of jazz, spiritual and theatre music. The trio's members are prolific commissioners with at least one world premiere every season. The Eroica Trio has premiered Raimundo Penaforte's Tango for Seven with the St. Lawrence String Quartet.

As the 1997 official representative for New York's Carnegie Hall, the Eroica Trio opened the sold-out "Distinctive Debuts" series at Weill Recital Hall. This touring series, created to showcase rising stars of classical music, was internationally sponsored by a consortium of European halls and included performances at Konzerthaus in Vienna, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Philharmonie in Cologne, Alte Oper in Frankfurt, Symphony Hall at ICC in Birmingham, and Kunserthus in Stockholm. The Eroica's performances were received with rave reviews. "The Trio plays with technical flair, raw, driven energy and high spirits. The ensemble also has plenty of charm and stage presence. It was obvious that all three musicians were having as much fun as the [Carnegie Hall] audience." (The Wall Street Journal)

Immediately following its acclaimed Carnegie Hall debut in 1997, the Eroica Trio was offered an exclusive five-record contract by Angel/EMI Classics Records. The Trio's self-titled debut CD, which features works by Ravel, Benjamin Godard, a commissioned arrangement of the Gershwin Preludes, and Paul Schoenfield's Café Music, was awarded NPR Performance Today's "Debut Recording of the Year" and featured in Time Out New York's "Top Ten Recordings" of 1997. The ensemble's second disc, released in the fall of 1998, concentrates on the works of Dvorak, Shostakovich and the trio's own arrangement of Rachmaninoff's Vocalise and was nominated for two Grammy Awards. The New York Times noted: "Eroica's musicians have the muscle to be purely dramatic and emotional, but here, they stand out for subtler reasons: all three players are soloists who have a lot to say, and every note, no matter how light, has some significance." The Eroica Trio's critically-acclaimed third recording, entitled "Baroque," was released in November 1999 and spent the next nine months in the top 20 on Billboard's charts. "Baroque" includes works by Bach, Vivaldi and the Eroica Trio's own arrangement of Albinoni's Adagio. The group's next album, "Pasión, was released in October 2000 and features Argentinean, Brazilian and Spanish composers, including Piazolla, Villa-Lobos and Turina. The group's fifth album for Angel/EMI Classics Records, dedicated to the music of Brahms, was released in January 2002 to great critical acclaim. The disc featured the composer's lullaby arranged for piano trio by Sara Sant'Ambrogio.

In addition to this demanding concert and recording schedule, 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.

The Eroica Trio has appeared on numerous 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 Oxygen Network, Bloomberg TV and Fox's The Crier Report. The group has been featured in Elle, Glamour, Vanity Fair, Detour, Marie Claire, Bon Appétit, Time Out New York, Strings, Piano, Gramophone, Chamber Music and Strad magazines. Grand Marnier created a new cocktail dubbed The Eroica, unveiled for the release of the "Pasión" recording. Chateau Sainte Michelle, a vineyard in Seattle, also named one of their vintage Rieslings in honor of the Trio.

The women who make up the Eroica Trio are all top-ranked, award-winning soloists and have performed on many of the world's great stages. Pianist Erika Nickrenz, who made her concerto debut at New York's Town Hall at the age of 11, was a featured soloist on the PBS series Live from Lincoln Center, and has enjoyed a solo career that has taken her across America and Canada, and to Italy, Switzerland, and Australia. She has performed at the Marlboro, Spoleto and Tanglewood Festivals. Violinist Adela Peña garnered first prize at the Washington International competition and has toured extensively as a soloist in the United States, 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 international successes include a 1986 bronze medal at the prestigious International Tchaikovsky Cello Competition in Moscow, resulting in concert tours across the U.S., Europe, the Middle East and Canada, and her performance in the 1991 Grammy award-winning recording of Leonard Bernstein's Arias and Barcaroles. Her recital at the Festival of Concerts celebrating the renovation of Carnegie Hall was broadcast nationally on CBS News. In addition, she has enjoyed collaborating on rock CDs and movie soundtracks.

The Trio members share a unique history, and have known each other since childhood. Erika and Adela began performing together at age nine. Three years later, Erika and Sara studied both piano and chamber music with Isabelle Sant'Ambrogio, Sara's grandmother. As a teenager, Adela coached chamber music with Sara's father and first teacher, John Sant'Ambrogio, principal cellist of the St. Louis Symphony. In the early years of the Eroica Trio, coaches included Mr. Sant'Ambrogio as well as Erika's father, the noted violist Scott Nickrenz. Since the Trio signed with Angel/EMI Classics Records, all of its' CDs have been produced by Erika's mother, three-time Grammy Award winner Joanna Nickrenz. Future musicians Zachary and Neal, born to Erika and Adela in the spring of 2001, were recently welcomed into the Eroica Trio Family. The Eroica Trio is based in New York City where its members maintain a close musical and personal friendship.