Weilerstein Trio

The highly acclaimed Weilerstein Trio, the trio-in-residence at the New England Conservatory of Music, has established itself as one of the most dynamic and electric piano trios on the concert stage today. In the words of the Boston Globe, “passion is the hallmark of the Weilersteins’ playing.”

Since their first public concert at the Round Top Festival Institute when cellist Alisa was six years old, the Trio has gained a wide following among diverse audiences. Hailed for its "luminous vibrancy" (Washington Post), the Trio as performed at Lincoln Center, Weill Hall, and Bargemusic in New York City and at prominent venues in Washington, D.C., Cleveland, St. Louis, St. Paul, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Boston. The Trio made their London debut in 2004 at the Royal Academy of Music. They have been guests on National Public Radio's Performance Today and St. Paul Sunday, in addition to a live performance by Alisa and Vivian on NBC and a feature article in More Magazine. The Trio's 2006 CD for Koch Records featuring trios of Dvorak has received rave reviews in both Strings and Fanfare magazines and was featured on NPR's "All Things Considered." They have recorded the Janacek/Coxe Kreutzer Sonata and the Schumann g minor trio for Koch as well. Recently, the trio was featured in Symphony Magazine in its article on musical families. Outside of their invigorating explorations of the trio repertoire, the members maintain thriving careers at soloists, duo artists, and teachers--Donald and Vivian as professors at the New England Conservatory and the Juilliard School, Alisa as one of the most sought-after soloists of her generation.

Donald Weilerstein, violin

Donald Weilerstein has concertized extensively as soloist and chamber musician throughout the world. For twenty years (1969-1989) Mr. Weilerstein was the first violinist of the renowned Cleveland Quartet with whom he toured the world.

His recordings with the quartet can be heard on the RCA, Telarc, CBS, Phillips, and Pro Arte labels. These recordings have earned seven Grammy nominations and won Best of the Year awards from Time and Stereo Review.

He was a member of the Young Concert Artists and a participant in the Marlboro Music Festival, performing on several "Music from Marlboro" Tours. In 1968 he won the Munich International Competition for violin and piano duo.

Mr. Weilerstein has taught and performed at such major American and European music festivals as Tanglewood, Caramoor, Aspen, Ravinia, Marlboro, Mostly Mozart, Salzburg, Luzern, Verbier, Ishikawa, Keshet Eilon, "Chamber Music Encounters" sponsored by La Cité de la Musique and the Paris Conservatory, and many more. He regulary particpates in the Yellow Barn Music Festival, the Banff Centre, and the Perlman Music Program. He has taught and perfromed in Shanghai, China as part of the Morningside Music Bridge and in Venezuela as part of El Sistema.

Formerly a professor of violin and chamber music at the Eastman School and the Cleveland Institute of Music, he is currently on the faculty of the New England Conservatory of Music. His students have been prize winners in major national and international competitions, including first prizes in the Indianapolis, Naumburg and Hanover competitions and second prize in the Queen Elizabeth Competition. His students can be heard in many of today's leading orchestras and chamber ensembles. Mr. Weilerstein is also a faculty member at the Juilliard School.

Vivian Hornik Weilerstein, piano

Vivian Hornik Weilerstein has performed as a soloist and chamber musician throughout the world and is a frequent collaborator with many of today’s most eminent artists and ensembles.

She has recently been a soloist with the Kansas City Symphony and the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale di Torino, and has toured throughout Europe and Japan.

Critics and audiences have welcomed Ms. Weilerstein’s performances as part of the Weilerstein Duo, with violinist Donald Weilerstein. Among their many recitals across the country, the duo has performed at Alice Tully Hall and the 92nd Street Y in New York City and the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C. Their discography includes the complete works of Ernest Bloch for violin and piano and the sonatas of Janácek, Dohnanyi, and Enescu for Arabesque Records and the complete Schumann sonatas for Azica Records.

Fanfare declared the Bloch recordings a “must” on the journal’s annual “Want List,” and American Record Guide lauded both the Bloch and Janácek recordings. In addition to the duo recordings, Ms. Weilerstein has recorded for the EMI Debut Series with cellist Alisa Weilerstein.

Ms. Weilerstein has participated in the major American music festivals, including the Marlboro, Aspen, Chamber Music West, Norfolk, Sarasota, Roundtop, and La Jolla festivals. She regularly participates in the Yellow Barn Music Fesitival, the Banff Centre, and the Perlman Music Program, and has been a guest artist at Kneisal Hall, the Young Musicians Festival in Israel, the Daniel Days in Holland, and the Verbier Festival in Switzerland. She has taught in Shanghai,China as part of the Morningside Music Bridge and in Venezuela as part of El Sistema.

Formerly a faculty member of the Cleveland Institute of Music, Ms. Weilerstein is the director of the Professional Piano Trio Training Program at the New England Conservatory, where she also serves on the piano and chamber music faculties. She is on the chamber music faculty of the Juilliard School.Ms Weilerstein is in demand for master classes and residencies around the world.


Alisa Weilerstein, cello

American cellist Alisa Weilerstein has attracted widespread attention for playing that combines a natural virtuosic command and technical precision with impassioned musicianship. The intensity of her playing has regularly been lauded, as has the spontaneity and sensitivity of her interpretations.

Milestones of Ms. Weilerstein's 2009-10 season included performing Elgar's Cello Concerto with the Berliner Philharmoniker and Daniel Barenboim in Oxford, England for the orchestra's 2010 European Concert. This concert was televised live worldwide and released on DVD in September 2010 and followed her Berliner Philharmoniker debut with Mr. Barenboim days earlier. In November 2009, Ms. Weilerstein participated in a White House classical music event and concert and in December 2009 she toured Venezuela with the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, led by Gustavo Dudamel. In May 2010 she made her LA Philharmonic debut with Mr. Dudamel performing the Dvorak Cello Concerto.

A major highlight of Ms. Weilerstein's 2010-11 season will be a 14-city tour with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic led by Yuri Temirkanov and Nikolai Alexeev. This tour includes concerts at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco, Chicago's Orchestra Hall, Boston's Symphony Hall, the Kennedy Center in Washington and Carnegie Hall. Other highlights include recitals with pianists Inon Barnatan and Gabriel Kahane, performing the Beethoven Triple Concerto with pianist Jeremy Denk, violinist Chee Yun and conductor Marek Janowski with the San Francisco Symphony and making her debuts with the National Orchestra of Spain, the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra performing Osvaldo Golijov's Azul.

Ms. Weilerstein is a dedicated chamber musician, performing regularly in prestigious festivals around the world and also with her parents, Donald and Vivian Hornik Weilerstein, as the Weilerstein Trio, which is the Trio-in-Residence at the New England Conservatory in Boston.
In 2008 Alisa Weilerstein was awarded Lincoln Center's Martin E. Segal prize for exceptional achievement and she was named the winner of the 2006 Leonard Bernstein Award. She received an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2000 and was selected for two prestigious young artists programs in 2000-01; the ECHO (European Concert Hall Organization) "Rising Stars" recital series and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center's Chamber Music Society Two. Ms. Weilerstein also recorded a CD for EMI Classics' "Debut" series in 2000.

Alisa Weilerstein, who was born in 1982, made her Cleveland Orchestra debut in October 1995, at age 13, playing the Tchaikovsky "Rococo" Variations. She made her Carnegie Hall debut with the New York Youth Symphony in March 1997. Ms. Weilerstein is a graduate of the Young Artist Program at the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studied with Richard Weiss. In May 2004, she graduated from Columbia University in New York with a degree in Russian History. Ms. Weilerstein, who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when she was nine, is a Celebrity Advocate for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

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© 2010 Sanibel Music Festival