The Claremont Trio

The Claremont Trio is fast-moving into the international scene! Twin sisters, Emily Bruskin (violin) and Julia Bruskin (cello) formed the Trio with Donna Kwong (piano) in 1999 at The Juilliard School. They have since won several competitions, including the first Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson International Trio Award; played in prestigious venues, including the American Academy in Rome and the Lincoln Center; as well as in Serbia, Bosnia, and Slovenia as part of a cultural exchange co-sponsored by the U.S. State Department and Carnegie Hall.

Committed to expanding piano trio repertoire, they present classical favorites alongside new, exciting compositions created by both established and up-and-coming composers. “Deft, exhilarating, and imaginative,” (Strings Magazine) Claremont Trio is zest for the senses. The Claremonts (Emily Bruskin, violin; Julia Bruskin, cello; Donna Kwong, piano) generate enthusiastic acclaim wherever they perform. The Naples Daily News calls them “the freshest breath of air in the world of chamber music today”.

In the past year the Claremont Trio’s cycle of Beethoven’s complete works for piano trio has been performed at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston and at the La Jolla Music Society, the Philharmonic Society of Orange County, the Los Alamos Concert Association, the Des Moines Art Center, Worcester’s Mechanics Hall, and many other venues nationwide. They have toured with guest violist, Ida Kavafian, and played the Beethoven Triple Concerto with the Norwalk Symphony Orchestra.

Claremont programs offer a refreshing blend of standard repertoire and new music, highlighting the works not only of Mozart, Beethoven, and Dvořák, but of such composers as Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, Leon Kirchner, Paul Schoenfield, and Mason Bates. The Claremonts, whose reading of the Shostakovich Trio No. 2 was described by the Los Angeles Times as "an inspiring, forceful performance," celebrate the 100th anniversary of this composer’s birth with the release of a recording of both his piano trios coupled with Arensky’s Trio in D minor, Op.32.

The group’s 2005-06 season featured performances at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the Philharmonic Center for the Arts in Naples, FL, the Irving S. Gilmore International Keyboard Competition in Kalamazoo, MI, the University of Maryland, the University of Washington, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and with the chamber music societies of Detroit, Utica, Kansas City, Louisville and Sedona. Other season highlights included a 19-city tour of the Midwest and West and performances of a special double trio program, presented with the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio. The Claremont Trio’s season finale performance for the New York Prism Concerts at Central Synagogue was received enthusiastically by the New York Times. In addition, the trio conducted educational residencies in Detroit, Seattle, and Sedona.

The Claremont Trio’s 2004-2005 touring schedule included concerts at New York’s Weill Recital Hall and Merkin Concert Hall, the Detroit Chamber Music Society, the Cincinnati Chamber Music Society, the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in West Palm Beach, FL, the Performing Arts Center at SUNY Purchase, and the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts in Cerritos, CA. The Trio debuted at Wolf Trap and received the Wolf Trap Foundation’s Debut Artist Award. The Guggenheim Museum featured the Trio in its Works and Process series in a performance of Mason Bates’ String Band, written for the Trio in 2002.

Other highlights of previous seasons include performances in the concert series at the American Academy in Rome; concerts in Avery Fisher Hall and Alice Tully Hall at New York’s Lincoln Center; and a collaboration with Peter Martins, director of the New York City Ballet, on a ballet based on Café Music by Paul Schoenfield. The Trio also has appeared at the UCLA Center for the Performing Arts, Columbia University’s Miller Theater, the Harvard Musical Association in Boston, the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series in Chicago, and in the British and U.S. Virgin Islands. In 2002, the Claremont Trio traveled to Serbia, Bosnia, and Slovenia as part of a cultural exchange co-sponsored by the U.S. State Department and Carnegie Hall.

During recent summers the Claremont Trio has appeared at the Mostly Mozart, Caramoor, Ravinia, Bard, Norfolk, Moab, Deer Valley, Cape Cod Chamber Music, and Great Lakes Festivals. The Trio frequently performs the Beethoven Triple Concerto with orchestras, such as the Utah Symphony, the Virginia Symphony, and the Pacific Symphony. It has also performed with many distinguished guest artists, including Toby Appel, Joseph Kalichstein, Martha Katz, Jaime Laredo, Ida Kavafian, Nokuthula Ngwenyama, Sharon Robinson, and Richard Young. The group’s mentors have included Isaac Stern and Robert McDonald.

Deeply committed to expanding the piano trio repertoire, the group has commissioned and premiered compositions by Daniel Kellogg, Mason Bates, and Hillary Zipper. The Trio is also extensively involved in music education and has been recognized for its engaging and interactive programs for students of all ages.

Twin sisters, Emily Bruskin and Julia Bruskin formed the Trio with Donna Kwong in 1999 at The Juilliard School. After winning the 2001 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, the Claremont Trio launched their touring career with an acclaimed New York debut at the 92nd Street Y. The Claremonts are based in New York City near their namesake, Claremont Avenue.

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