The Beaux Arts Trio was a noted piano trio. They made their debut on July 13, 1955, at the Berkshire Music Festival, known today as the Tanglewood Music Center. Their final American concert was held at Tanglewood on August 21, 2008. It was webcast live and archived on NPR Music. Their final concert was in Lucerne, Switzerland on September 6, 2008.
The Beaux Arts Trio recorded the entire standard piano trio repertoire. In 2005, the trio celebrated its 50th anniversary with two special CD issues, one featuring their most popular releases through their long years of recording (released by Philips Records), and the other an anniversary collection of new music (released by Warner Records). Throughout its existence, the trio was held together by the founding member, pianist Menahem Pressler. The original members of the trio when it was founded in 1955 were:
- Piano: Menahem Pressler
- Violin: Daniel Guilet
- Cello: Bernard Greenhouse
The violin and cello members changed on a number of occasions, with later members including:
- Violin: Isidore Cohen (1968–1992; formerly 2nd violinist of the Juilliard String Quartet), Ida Kavafian (1992–1998), Yung Uck Kim (1998–2002), Daniel Hope (since 2002)
- Cello: Peter Wiley (1987-1998: changed to the Guarneri Quartet), Antonio Meneses (since 1998)
Famous quotes containing the words beaux and/or arts:
“The beaux and the babies, the servant troubles, and the social aspirations of the other girls seemed to me superficial. My work did not. I was professional. I could earn my own money, or I could be fired if I were inefficient. It was something to get your teeth into. It was living.”
—Edna Woolman Chase (18771957)
“Insurrection is an art, and like all arts has its own laws.”
—Leon Trotsky (18791940)