Nominated for a 2017 GRAMMY Award for Best Performance by a Small Ensemble and winners of the 2008 Masterplayers International Competition in Venice, the Lincoln Trio has become one of Chicago’s most celebrated chamber ensembles. Praised for their “joy of sheer technical ability, unanimity of phrasing and beautiful blended tone,” the trio takes its name from their home in the heartland of the USA, the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln. The Trio’s polished presentations of well-known chamber works and their ability to forge new paths with contemporary repertoire has led to their reputation as a first rate ensemble, drawing an eclectic audience of sophisticated music lovers, young admirers of contemporary programs, and students discovering chamber music for the first time.
Each member is an artist of international renown. Violinist Desirée Ruhstrat has performed throughout the US and Europe, appearing at the White House and performing on a live radio broadcast heard around the world with the Berlin Radio Orchestra; cellist David Cunliffe has performed with the BBC and Royal Scottish orchestras as well as touring as a member of the Balanescu Quartet, and pianist Marta Aznavoorian has appeared with the Chicago Symphony and has performed at the Kennedy Center and the Sydney Opera House.
Formed in 2003, the Trio has performed throughout the US, including the Ravinia Music Festival, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra’s Beethoven Chamber Music Series, the Lane Series at the University of Vermont, Columbus Chamber Music series, and a tour on behalf of the Ravinia Festival celebrating the Lincoln Bicentennial, including a kickoff celebration in Springfield, Illinois with President Obama. In Chicago they are frequent guests of classical radio station WFMT and have been featured on Arts Across Illinois TV. They toured Singapore, Hong Kong and Vietnam on behalf of the Ravinia Festival
Champions of new music, the Lincoln Trio has performed numerous compositions written for them. Their discography, on the Cedille label, includes:
“Notable Women,” featuring works by Grammy and Pulitzer Prize winning composers Jennifer Higdon, Lera Auerbach, Augusta Read Thomas, Laura Schwendinger and Stacy Garrop.
“Music from Our Homelands,” 20th-century piano trios by composers from the individual players’ ancestral homelands of Switzerland (Frank Martin), England (Rebecca Clarke), and Armenia (Arno Babajanian).
“Turina: The Complete Chamber Works for Strings and Piano” (a 2-CD set)
“Trios From the City of Big Shoulders” offers engaging, rarely heard piano trios by 20th-century Chicago composers Leo Sowerby, winner of the Rome Prize and Pulitzer Prize for music, and Ernst Bacon, recipient of three Guggenheim Fellowships and a Pulitzer Fellowship.
“Trios from Contemporary Chicago,” featuring Augusta Read Thomas, Sean Okpebholo, Stacy Garrop, Shulamit Ran, and Mischa Zupko.
