Biography
The Swiss Piano Trio has gathered a remarkable reputation among both experts and the public as an ensemble of outstanding balance and technical perfection whose interpretations electrify with emotional power and their rich and colourful sound. Therefore, there is no surprise that the US-magazine Fanfare recently described the Swiss Piano Trio as „one of the very top piano trio ensembles on today’s stage“.
The Swiss Piano Trio is the 2005 first-prize winner of the International Johannes Brahms Competition in Austria. In 2003, the ensemble won another first prize at the distinguished International Chamber Music Competition in Caltanissetta. In March 2005, the trio was given the Swiss Ambassador's Award at the world-famous Wigmore Hall in London. This success in international competitions, along with a series of worldwide concerts, helped make the Swiss Piano Trio one of the leading chamber music ensembles of its generation. Valuable artistic direction has been given to the Swiss Piano Trio by Menahem Pressler of the Beaux Arts Trio, by the Wiener Altenberg Trio, by Valentin Berlinsky from the Borodin Quartet of Moscow and by members of the Amadeus Quartet.
Since its foundation in 1998, the ensemble has given concerts in more than 40 countries on all continents. It has performed in renowned halls such as the Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory, Wigmore Hall London, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Tonhalle Zurich, Victoria Hall Geneva, Philharmonie de Liege, National Philharmony of Ukraine Kiev, Teatro Teresa Carreño Caracas, Teatro Coliseo Buenos Aires, the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing, Shanghai Grand Theatre, QPAC Brisbane and many others. The musicians regularly accept invitations to perform at renowned festivals such as the Ottawa Chamberfest, the Menuhin Festival Gstaad, Esbjerg Chamber Music Festival, Bastad Chamber Music Festival, the Festival of the Sound or the MusicFest Vancouver and give masterclasses in many countries.
In performances of triple concertos, the Swiss Piano Trio performs as a soloists’ ensemble together with orchestras such as the Russian National Orchestra, the Queensland Orchestra Brisbane, the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, the Christchurch Symphony, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine, the Bangkok Symphony Orchestra, and many more.
Numerous broadcast recordings for stations like Radio Suisse Romande, Schweizer Radio DRS, Sudwestdeutscher Rundfunk SWR, Österreichischer Rundfunk ORF, CBC Canada, Australian Radio ABC, the Ukrainian State Radio, Radio Television Hong Kong, the Venezuela State TV and many more document the artistic activities of the ensemble. Their discography includes trios by Mozart and Dvořák, as well as piano trios by the Swiss composers Paul Juon, Frank Martin and Daniel Schnyder. From 2011, the Swiss Piano Trio has issued its recordings on the audite label where the complete piano trios by Mendelssohn, Robert and Clara Schumann and Tchaikovsky as well as world premiere recordings of so far unknown romantic piano trios by Eduard Franck were released. All these recordings were received enthusiastically by critics and the public and are getting regularly awards in international magazines. The most recent publication are the complete works for piano trio by Beethoven including the Triple Concerto together with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra. This edition got already several awards.
The ensemble is very active and successful in promoting and performing carefully chosen works by Swiss composers all over the world. One example is the Triple Concerto written by Daniel Schnyder and commissioned by the Swiss Piano Trio, which was already performed with various orchestras in Belgium, Ukraine, Switzerland and Australia.
Celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Swiss Piano Trio in 2008, the festival KAMMERMUSIK BODENSEE was created: its artistic director is the pianist of the ensemble, Martin Lucas Staub.
More information on www.swisspianotrio.com
