Music
Press
They command respect for their lustrous tone and unerring interpretive intelligence. The Ravel Trio glowed in their hands; it was properly perfect and properly alive.
THE NEW YORK TIMES
A magnificent amalgam of lucid, glistening tonal brilliance, severely calibrated dynamics and elegant phrasing. The Laurel Trio seems destined to make a substantial contribution to the music of our time.
NEW YORK CONCERT REVIEW
A fusion of congenial talents who have performed together for five years to attain an artistic unity of rare vision.
GREENWICH TIMES
Performances of the Triple Concerto are rare. Cellist Amy Levine Tsang set the tone for the first movement, acquitting her solos with a touching lyricism the other instrumentalists echoed in their solos. The Laurel Trio caught the fire of the final movement, with each soloist flinging the dance theme among themselves with fun-loving aplomb. The music found an appropriately happy medium between speed and clarity.
PRINCETON STAR-LEDGER
Violinist Sunghae Anna Lim and cellist Amy Levine Tsang found ways to make their instruments sound a bit Eastern and exotic, an effect I had not heard before, either in live performance or on record. They were quite convincing, and this was only one example of the extra dimensions they found in the music. ALLENTOWN MORNING CALL
Shimmering tonal brilliance...astute and nuanced interpretation...a clarity of tone and a delicate sense of timing made for a lustruously polished performance.
AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN
The Laurel Trio demonstrated impeccable and solid performances. In terms of execution, one cannot ask for greater instrumental cohesion and transparency. They achieved a spotless interpretation. MONTERREY, MEXICO
The energy and drive of this spirited trio spread from the stage to the audience, which rewarded the ensemble with three curtain calls and a standing ovation. PORTLAND HERALD PRESS
- various
Discography
"Tapestries," Richard Festinger, originally released by CRI now available from New World Records (2007)
Photos
Bio
Laurel Trio formed in 1994 at the Laurel Festival for the Arts and quickly became recognized as one of the most promising young ensembles of the decade, with weekly performances for WQXR, the radio station of the New York Times, at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall and many other concerts. Now in its 15th year, Laurel Trio -- violinist Sunghae Anna Lim, cellist Amy Levine-Tsang and Grammy-nominated pianist Reiko Uchida -- achieves a level of communication, artistry and musicianship that earns appreciation and admiration from audiences and fellow musicians alike.
Concertizing in the U.S. and abroad to critical acclaim, Laurel Trio has performed at Weill Recital Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, the Kosciuszko Foundation, the Alexander Schneider Series at the New School, and at the Gardner Museum in Boston, the La Jolla Chamber Music Society, the Sacramento Festival of New American Music, the Teatro De La Ciudad in Monterrey, Mexico, and the National Concert Association in Panama.
Among its awards are the Nathan Wedeen Award at the Concert Artists Guild Competition and the ProPiano Award.
About the artists
Violinist Sunghae Anna Lim has concertized extensively throughout the United States, England, Austria and Japan as a chamber musician and soloist. She is a founding member of the Laurel Trio, which won the 1995 Nathan Wedeen Award at the Concert Artists Guild Competition in New York. The Trio has performed to critical acclaim across the country and has served as ensemble-in residence at numerous music festivals and organizations, including WQXR (the radio station of The New York Times) and the Tanglewood Music Festival.
As violinist of New Millennium Ensemble, Ms. Lim won the coveted Naumburg Chamber Music Award, which included a debut at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center. Over the last decade she has been actively involved in the contemporary music scene, premiering and recording over 100 works by living composers. Ms. Lim has participated in music festivals such as Marlboro, Ravinia, Prussia Cove, the Portland Chamber Music Festival and the Laurel Festival of the Arts. As a soloist, she has appeared with the Honolulu Symphony, the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, the Delaware Valley Philharmonic, and has toured Japan with the Viennese chamber orchestra "Ensemble Nine."
Ms. Lim has taught chamber music at the Yale School of Music and currently teaches violin at Princeton University. She has recorded for Koch International, CRI, Centaur Records and Newport Classics and last season worked with conductor Robert Craft to record chamber works of Webern for the Naxos label. She received a B.A. from Harvard University in German History and Literature and completed her Diplom at the Mozarteum in Salzburg.
Cellist Amy Levine-Tsang enjoys an active career as both chamber musician and teacher. In addition to being a founding member of the Laurel Trio, Ms. Levine-Tsang collaborates frequently in performance with numerous ensembles such as the Cassatt, Colorado, Brentano and Meridian String Quartets, the New Jersey Chamber Music Society, the Richardson Chamber Players, and the Chamber Soloists of Austin. She has been a frequent performer at the Marlboro Music Festival, the Gerhart and Portland Chamber Music Festivals, and the Laurel Festival of the Arts and Music in the Vineyards. As a soloist, she has appeared with the Philharmonia Virtuosi of New York and the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, among others.
Ms. Levine-Tsang received degrees from Yale and Rutgers Universities, where she studied with Aldo Parisot and Bernard Greenhouse, respectively. She is former member of the music faculty at Princeton University and continues to teach privately since relocating from the east coast to Austin, Texas.
Grammy-nominated pianist Reiko Uchida is much sought after as a soloist and chamber musician. She was the first prize winner of the Joanna Hodges Piano Competition and the Zinetti International Chamber Music Competition. She has appeared as soloist with numerous orchestras, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Orchestra of the Curtis Institute, and the Santa Fe Symphony, among others. In 2001, Ms. Uchida made her New York solo debut at Carnegie's Weill Hall under the auspices of the Abby Whiteside Foundation. She has performed solo and chamber music concerts throughout the world, including the United States, Japan, France, Italy, Germany, Russia, Finland, Bulgaria, and the Czech Republic, in venues including Avery Fisher Hall, Alice Tully Hall, the 92nd Street Y, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Kennedy Center, the White House, and Suntory Hall in Tokyo. Her festival appearances include Spoleto, Tanglewood, Santa Fe, Marlboro and the Laurel Festival of the Arts. Her 2008 recording with violinist Jennifer Koh, String Poetic: American Works for Violin and Piano, earned a Grammy nomination for Best Chamber Music Performance.
As a chamber musician, she was one of the first pianists selecte
Links
