2021-2022: SEASON 9
Montrose Piano Trio - Martin Beaver, violin | Clive Greensmith, cello | Jon Kimura Parker, piano
Formed in 2013, the Montrose Trio is a collaboration stemming from a long and fruitful relationship between pianist Jon Kimura Parker and the Tokyo String Quartet. Mr. Parker was the quartet’s final guest pianist, and a backstage conversation with first violinist Martin Beaver and cellist Clive Greensmith led to the Montrose Trio’s creation.
Named after Chateau Montrose, a storied Bordeaux wine long favored after concerts, with a nod to the Montrose Arts District of Houston and the street in Winnipeg where Mr. Beaver was raised, the Montrose Trio has quickly established a reputation for performances of the highest distinction. In 2015 the Washington Post raved about their “absolutely top-notch music-making, as fine as one could ever expect to hear…they are poised to become one of the top piano trios in the world.”
The Montrose Trio gave their debut performance for the Chamber Music Society of Detroit, with subsequent performances at Wolftrap, in Montreal, and at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival. They have continued to perform on major series in cities including New York, Baltimore, Buffalo, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, La Jolla, Menlo, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland, Seattle, Vancouver, at the Hong Kong Chamber MusicFestival, and throughout Italy.
Martin Beaver was first violin of the world-renowned Tokyo String Quartet from June 2002 until its final concert in July 2013. As such, he appeared to critical and public acclaim on the major stages of the world, including Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, the Berliner Philharmonie, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, and the Sydney Opera House.
Mr. Beaver is a regular guest at prominent festivals in North America and abroad. Among these are the Seattle Chamber Music Festival, La Jolla SummerFest, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Chamber Music Northwest, the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, the Edinburgh International Festival, and Pacific Music Festival in Japan.
Mr. Beaver’s discography includes concertos, sonatas, and chamber music on the Harmonia Mundi, Biddulph, Naim Audio, René Gailly, Musica Viva, SM5000, and Naxos labels. His recorded repertoire ranges from Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms to the music of living composers Alexina Louie and Joan Tower.
A devoted educator, Mr. Beaver has conducted master classes throughout North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. He has held teaching positions at the Royal Conservatory of Music, the University of British Columbia, and the Peabody Conservatory. More recently, he served on the faculty of New York University and as artist-in-residence at the Yale School of Music, where he was awarded its highest honor, the Sanford Medal. He joined the faculty of the Colburn School Conservatory of Music in 2013 as Professor of Violin and served as Co-Director of String Chamber Music Studies from 2013–2018.
From 1999 until its final season in 2013, Clive Greensmith was a member of the world-renowned Tokyo String Quartet, giving over one hundred performances each year in the most prestigious international venues, including New York’s Carnegie Hall, Sydney Opera House, London’s South Bank, Paris Chatelet, Berlin Philharmonie, Vienna Musikverein, and Suntory Hall in Tokyo. He has collaborated with international artists such as Andras Schiff, Pinchas Zukerman, Leon Fleisher, Lynn Harrell, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Alicia de Larrocha, and Emanuel Ax.
Mr. Greensmith has given guest performances at prominent festivals worldwide. In North America, he has performed at the Aspen Music Festival, Marlboro Music Festival, Music@Menlo, La Jolla SummerFest, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Cleveland Chamber Fest, and the Ravinia Festival. As a soloist, Clive Greensmith has performed with the London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic, and the RAI Orchestra of Rome among others.
During a career spanning over twenty-five years, Mr. Greensmith has built up a catalog of landmark recordings, most notably The Complete Beethoven String Quartets for Harmonia Mundi with the Tokyo String Quartet, Mozart’s ‘Prussian’ Quartets with the Tokyo String Quartet, Brahms Cello Sonatas with Boris Berman for Biddulph Recordings, and Clarinet Trios of Beethoven and Brahms with Jon Nakamatsu and Jon Manasse for Harmonia Mundi.
Deeply committed to the mentoring and development of young musicians, Clive has enjoyed a long and distinguished teaching career. In addition to his fifteen-year residency with the Tokyo String Quartet at Yale University, Mr. Greensmith has served as a faculty member at the Yehudi Menuhin School and Royal Northern College of Music in England, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and the Manhattan School of Music. In 2013 Mr. Greensmith joined the faculty at the Colburn School where he is currently a professor of cello and coaches chamber music for the Conservatory of Music and the Music Academy.
Pianist Jon Kimura Parker is the Creative Partner of the Minnesota Orchestra, Artistic Director of the Honens International Piano Competition and Artistic Advisor of the Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival. This season he performs in New York at Lincoln Center, Toronto with the Galilee Chamber Orchestra, Chicago with the Montrose Trio, as well as in Boston, Phoenix, Kansas City, Dallas, Quebec, Portland, and Minneapolis.
He has collaborated with legendary rock drummer Stewart Copeland in Off the Score, tango pianist Pablo Ziegler, singer Bobby McFerrin, violinist Cho-Liang Lin, and mezzo-soprano Susan Graham, A committed educator, he is Professor of Piano at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. His Whole Notes series is available on Amazon Prime, and he is a featured Tonebase artist.
Winner of the Gold Medal at the 1984 Leeds International Piano Competition, Parker is an Officer of The Order of Canada and has received Honorary Doctorates from the University of British Columbia and the Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto.
Jon Kimura Parker studied with Edward Parker and Keiko Parker, Lee Kum-Sing at the Vancouver Academy of Music and the University of British Columbia, Marek Jablonski at the Banff Centre, and Adele Marcus at The Juilliard School.
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