Beaux Arts Trio

Menahem Pressler, piano
Daniel Hope, violin
Antonio Meneses, cello

“Among the world’s piano trios, there is none better. All three members perform well enough to be soloists. But even the greatest virtuosos who join together as a trio can remain just that: a trio. The Beaux Arts players' real virtuosity lies in their ability to become one instrument.” - Time Magazine

Recognized for more than 46 years as having set the standard for performance of piano trio literature, the Beaux Arts Trio continues to perform in the musical tradition which began with its public debut on July 13, 1955, at the Berkshire Music Festival, known today as the Tanglewood Festival. 

Pianist and founding member Menahem Pressler, along with all of his Trio colleagues, continue to ignite overwhelming enthusiasm from audiences around the world. From the United States to Russia, from Japan to Germany, from Israel to Brazil, this renowned ensemble's extensive engagements have brought it the highest praise and ovations from the world's major music centers including New York, Boston, Chicago, Washington D.C., London, Paris, Berlin, Munich, Vienna, Amsterdam, Moscow, Tel Aviv, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney. Chosen as Musical America's Ensemble of the Year in 1997, the Trio has been invited and re-invited by these centers to perform more than 100 concerts and master classes each year. The Beaux Arts Trio's superb musicians, distinguished history, comprehensive repertoire and expansive discography, contribute to its reputation as a hallmark of chamber music.

Through the years, the Beaux Arts Trio has maintained its freshness, while preserving its distinctive musical heritage. Founded by Menahem Pressler, Daniel Guilet and Bernard Greenhouse, the Trio has evolved from the replacement of Guilet in 1969 with violinist Isadore Cohen, and the replacement of Greenhouse with cellist Peter Wiley in 1987. In June 1992, the Trio made its debut with violinist Ida Kavafian in two extraordinary performances of Beethoven's Triple Concerto with the Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig under Maestro Kurt Masur. Menahem Pressler created yet another legendary collaboration when he named violinist Young Uck Kim and cellist Antonio Meneses as new members in 1998.  In their three seasons together, Pressler, Kim and Meseses earned highest praise from critics and audiences alike. British violinist Daniel Hope was announced as the Trio’s newest member in April, 2002, after highly successful 2002 winter tours of Europe and the United States.

The Beaux Arts Trio's mark in American culture is far-reaching. The ensemble has played a major and ongoing role in the programs of important cultural and educational centers throughout North America, with annual concert series at such revered institutions as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Celebrity Series of Boston and the Library of Congress, where the Trio is in residence. Its repeated annual engagements extend to numerous associations and chamber music series, including those of San Francisco, Vancouver, Denver, Portland, Kansas City, Louisville, Saint Paul, Detroit, Philadelphia, Toronto, Cambridge and New York. The Trio's engagements at major North American music festivals include Mostly Mozart, Caramoor, Ravinia, Tanglewood, Ottawa and Orford. The Trio's regular university performances include appearances at Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Johns Hopkins, Berkley, the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. The Trio's annual international engagements include appearances at the festivals of Edinburgh, Lucerne, Vienna, Helsinki, Warsaw, Hong Kong and Israel, as well as performances in the chamber music series of the world's major foreign cities. 

The Beaux Arts Trio's many landmark projects include its participation in the "December Evenings" Festival in Moscow, at the invitation of Maestro Sviatoslav Richter, and a performance at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. Several contemporary composers have written pieces for the Trio. Among the Trio's recent premieres are Ned Rorem's Spring Music, commissioned by Carnegie Hall as part of Carnegie's Centennial Celebration; George Rochberg's Summer, 1990, commissioned by the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society; and David N. Baker's Roots II, commissioned by the McKim Foundation.

The Beaux Arts Trio's extensive discography on Philips Records encompasses the entire piano trio literature. The Trio's recordings have brought several coveted awards, including the Prix Mondial du Disque, three Grand Prix du Disques, the Union de la Presse Musicale Belge Caecilia Award, the Gramophone Record of the Year and the Stereo Review Record of the Year Award. The Beaux Arts Trio’s most recent release is a recording of music by Spanish composers and was nominated for a Grammy in 1998.

Menahem Pressler, founding member and pianist of the Beaux Arts Trio, has established himself among the world's most distinguished and honored musicians, with a career that spans nearly five decades. Both an outstanding chamber and solo performer, Mr. Pressler's talents have brought him to all of the world's major music capitals. His musical precision and overwhelming knowledge of piano and chamber music literature have also gained him an international reputation as a remarkable teacher.

Mr.Pressler's world-renowned career was launched after he was awarded first prize at the Debussy International Piano Competition in San Francisco. This was followed by his successful American debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Eugene Ormandy. Since then, Mr. Pressler's extensive tours of North America and Europe have included performances with the orchestras of New York, Chicago, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Dallas, San Francisco, London, Paris, Brussels, Oslo, Helsinki and many others.

The 1955 Berkshire Music Festival saw Mr.Pressler's debut as a chamber musician, where he appeared as pianist with the Beaux Arts Trio. This collaboration quickly established Pressler's reputation as one of the world's most revered chamber musicians. His other chamber music collaborations have included multiple performances with the Juilliard, Emerson, Guarneri and Cleveland Quartets, as well as the Israel Quartet and the Pasquier String Trio. Also in 1955,Mr. Pressler began his association with the music school at Indiana University where today, in honor of his outstanding teaching abilities, he holds the rank of Distinguished Professor of Music.

Born in Magdeburg, Germany, Mr. Pressler received most of his musical training in Israel. His life has always been completely devoted to his music. When not on tour with the Beaux Arts Trio, giving solo performances, or teaching master classes, Mr. Pressler can be found in his studio at Indiana University in Bloomington, where he holds the rank of Distinguished Professor. He holds honorary doctorate degrees from both the Universities of Nebraska and Kansas. In 1994, Mr. Pressler was honored with Chamber Music America's Distinguished Service Award and in 1998, he received the prestigious Gramophone Lifetime Achievement Award. Mr. Pressler was elected to the demy of Arts and Letters in 2000. In addition to more than 50 recordings with the Beaux Arts Trio, Menahem Pressler has compiled over 30 solo recordings, ranging from the works of Bach to Ben-Haim. Mr. Pressler resides in Bloomington, Indiana with his wife Sara.

Daniel Hope, violinist, was nominated in 2000 for a “Classical Brit” award, was recently voted “Classical Performer 2001” by London’s Evening Standard. A recent review in the American Record Guide states, “with his winning combination of old-world lyricism, beautiful tone, and a sure sense of style, he is a star in the making.” 

Mr. Hope has appeared in chamber music concerts with Yur Bashmet, Lynn Harrell, Tabea Zimmermann, Philippe Entremont, Paul Meyer, Lars Vogt, Christoph Poppen and Alexei Lubimov. He founded and has traveled worldwide with the London International Quartet, winner of the 1999 Allianz Prize.

By age 10, Mr. Hope had already appeared on British television playing chamber music with double bassist, Gary Karr. He was subsequently invited by Yehudi Menuhin to perform Bartok Duos for German Television, which was the beginning of a long association, culminating in over 60 concerts together, including Lord Menuhin’s final concert on March 7, 1999 at the Tonhalle in Dusseldorf. 

Mr.Hope is a veteran of the world great concert stages including those of Berlin Philharmonie, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, Theatre des Champs-Elysees in Paris, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Cologne Philharmonie, Grosse Musikverein and Konzerthaus in Vienna, Zurich Tonhalle, Moscow Conservatory, Madrid Auditorio Nacional, Munich Gasteig, Hamburg Musikhalle, Linz Brucknerhaus, Symphony Hall Birmingham, and the Barbican, Wigmore, Queen Elizabeth and Royal Albert Halls in London. He has also appeared at major festivals including the BBC Proms, Lucerne, Colmar, Schleswig-Holstein, Klanbogen Vienna, Vail, Gstaad, Schloss Elmau, Spannungen, San Sebastian, Carinthian Summer, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Harrogate and Manchester Proms. 

Antonio Meneses, a cellist of international renown, was born in Recife, Brazil, to a musical family. (His father was first horn player at the Opera of Rio de Janeiro.) The young Antonio began to study the cello at the age of 10. During a tour in South America, cellist Antonio Janigro asked Mr. Meneses to join his classes in Dusseldorf and in Stuttgart. In 1977, Mr. Meneses won First Prize at the International Competition in Munich. In 1982, he was awarded First Prize and the Gold Medal at the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow.

Mr. Meneses regularly performs with the world's leading orchestras including the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (Riccardo Muti, Mariss Jansons), London Symphony Orchestra (Claudio Abbado, Andre Previn), BBC Symphony Orchestra (Andrew Davis), Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (Semyon Bychkov, Herbert Blomstedt), New York Philharmonic Orchestra (Kurt Sanderling), Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (Neeme Jarvi), National Symphony Orchestra (Mstislav Rostropovitch), Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic (Gert Albrecht), Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and the NHK Symphony Orchestra. 

Mr. Meneses is a frequent guest at many international music festivals including Festival Pablo Casals in Puerto Ricco, the Festivals of Salzburg and Lucerne, the Vienna Festwochen, the Berlin Festwochen, the Prague Spring Festival, La Grange de Mesley (the Festival of Sviatoslav Richter in France) and the Festival de Colmar (the Festival of Vladimir Spivakov in France.) Mr. Meneses was a featured as a soloist with the Mostly Mozart Festival during its tour of Japan in 1995. 

In addition, Mr. Meneses regularly tours Europe and Japan in chamber music concerts with the Vermeer Quartet, the Amati Quartet and the Carmina Quartet. He performs each season with the Casals Hall Quartet in Japan.

Mr. Meneses has recorded Brahms' Double Concerto for violin and cello with Anne Sophie Mutter, and has also recorded Richard Strauss "Don Quixote," both for Deutsche Grammophon with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Herbert von Karajan. Mr. Meneses has recorded the Tchaikovsky Trio for EMI/Angel, and the Six Suites of J.S. Bach for Nippon Phonogram. Other recordings include the D'Albert Concerto and works of David Popper, both with the Basel Symphony Orchestra. Most recently, Antonio Meneses has recorded the three concertos of Carl Philip Emanuel Bach with the Munich Chamber Orchestra.