Since 1974, artistic director Jaime Laredo has brought some of the world's finest players and repertoire to the 92nd Street Y for Chamber Music at the Y. For this season's final concerts, Tuesday, April 28 and Wednesday, April 29, 2009, the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio, one of the series' regular and most popular groups, returns to take the stage with the the Miami String Quartet. Also part of the Y's New Horizons series, the program celebrates the eve of Pulitzer-prize winning composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich's 70th birthday with the world premiere of her Septet for Piano Trio and String Quartet, co-commissioned by the 92nd Street Y and a consortium of nine other organizations.

Zwilich writes of the Septet: "My greatest joy is writing for performers whom I can be sure will not only deliver the notes accurately, but will project the meaning behind the notes. To have musicians who will bring their own imagination and deep understanding to a performance is an inspiration to me. So I approached the writing of my Septet for The Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio and The Miami String Quartet with great anticipation and pleasure."

"The fact that there is no model for such a Septet made the pre-composition process a most enjoyable exploration," Zwilich further comments. "While the instrumentation of the Septet provides an almost orchestral palette-and it was interesting to explore that aspect-I also love the idea of 7 artist-performers, each of whom can be a stunning virtuoso one moment and a thoughtful partner the next, and I relish the electricity that results from those shifting roles."

The concerts include two additional works: Luigi Boccherini's String Quintet in E Major, G. 275, which features his famous Minuet, often considered the cellist/composer's most famous melody; and Robert Schumann's Quintet for Piano and Strings in E-flat Major, Op. 44, composed during his "year of chamber music" in 1842 and premiered by his wife Clara in January 1843 at the Leipzig Gewandhaus.

Each evening will be preceded by a pre-concert interview with Zwilich by pianist Joseph Kalichstein at 7pm.

After three decades of great success, many recordings, and newly commissioned works, the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio continues to dazzle audiences and critics alike with their performances. Pianist Joseph Kalichstein, violinist Jaime Laredo and cellist Sharon Robinson have set the standard for performance of the piano trio literature for more than thirty years. The Trio balances the careers of three internationally-acclaimed soloists while making annual appearances at many of the world's major concert halls, commissioning spectacular new works, and maintaining an active recording agenda. The ensemble kicked off the 2008-09 season at Wigmore Hall in London, with the complete Beethoven cycle. In addition to performing the world premiere of Ellen Taaffe Zwilich's Septet for Piano Trio and String Quartet at the 92nd Street Y, the Trio will present premieres at the Kennedy Center, Detroit Chamber Music Society, and Virginia Arts Festival. The group has worked extensively with the Miami String Quartet, as well as the Guarneri and Emerson String Quartets, allowing the opportunity to explore the rich literature for strings and piano.

At a time when the musical offerings of the world are more varied than ever before, few composers have emerged with the unique personality of Ellen Taaffe Zwilich. Her music is widely known because it is performed, recorded, broadcast, and - above all - listened to by a diverse and global audience. A prolific composer in virtually all media, Zwilich's works have been performed by most of the leading American orchestras and by major ensembles abroad. She is the recipient of numerous prizes and honors, including the 1983 Pulitzer Prize in Music (the first woman ever to receive this coveted award), the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Chamber Music Prize, the Arturo Toscanini Music Critics Award, an Academy Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a Guggenheim Fellowship, 4 Grammy nominations, and the NPR and WNYC Gotham Award for her contributions to the musical life of New York City. Among other distinctions, Zwilich has been elected to the Florida Artists Hall of Fame, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 1995, she was named to the first Composer's Chair in the history of Carnegie Hall, and she was designated Musical America's Composer of the Year for 1999.

Praised in The New York Times as having "everything one wants in a quartet: a rich, precisely balanced sound, a broad coloristic palette, real unity of interpretive purpose and seemingly unflagging energy," the Miami String Quartet has quickly established its place among the most widely respected quartets in America. The ensemble has appeared extensively throughout the United States and Europe, including performances in New York, Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Cologne, Istanbul, Lausanne, Montreal, Hong Kong, Taipei and Paris. The Quartet's interest in new music has led to many commissions and premieres. Such highlights include a commissioning grant from Chamber Music America for a piano quintet from Maurice Gardner, a world premiere performance of the quartet Whispers of Mortality by Bruce Adolphe, a quartet by Philip Maneval, Maurice Gardner's Quartet No. 2 and Concertino as well as premieres of Robert Starer's Quartet Nos. 2 and 3, and David Baker's Summer Memories. Commissions include a work by composer Annie Gosfield, commissioned by the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, a joint commissioning by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and the VA Arts Festival of a new piano quintet by Bruce Adolphe, and a new work by composer Stephen Jaffe commissioned by the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society.

Tickets are $48 Premium Orchestra or Premium Balcony / $38 Orchestra or Balcony (Ages 35 and younger, $25) and may be purchased by calling 212.415.5500, visiting www.92Y.org/concerts, or at the box office. The 92nd Street Y is located at 1395 Lexington Avenue at 92nd Street.

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Tuesday, April 28, 2009, 8pm | Wednesday, April 29, 2009, 8pm
Pre-concert interview with composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich by pianist Joseph Kalichstein at 7pm
CHAMBER MUSIC AT THE Y | NEW HORIZONS
The Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio
Joseph Kalichstein, piano | Jaime Laredo, violin | Sharon Robinson, cello
Miami String Quartet
Ivan Chan, violin | Cathy Meng Robinson, violin | Yu Jin, viola | Keith Robinson, cello

LUIGI BOCCHERINI (1743-1805): String Quintet in E Major, G. 275 (1771)
ELLEN TAAFFE ZWILICH (b. 1939): Septet for Piano Trio and String Quartet (world premiere, 92nd Street Y co-commission)
ROBERT SCHUMANN (1810-1856): Quintet for Piano and Strings in E-flat Major, Op. 44 (1842)

Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio electronic press kit
Miami String Quartet website
Ellen Taaffe Zwilich biography