Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio

Formed in 1977, the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio ranked among the leading chamber ensembles of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, maintaining an international presence that extended well into the following decade. Pianist Joseph Kalichstein, violinist Jaime Laredo, and cellist Sharon Robinson made up the ensemble. Laredo and Robinson had already collaborated on several performances and recordings during the first half of the 1970s; after their marriage in 1977 the three musicians came together for an appearance at the inauguration of President Jimmy Carter. Impressed by the results, they continued performing as a unit and adopted the name Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio in 1981. Their initial commercial release arrived in 1990, when they taped Beethoven’s Triple Concerto, Op. 56, for the Chandos label with the English Chamber Orchestra led by Alexander Gibson.

That disc marked the beginning of a discography that eventually encompassed roughly twenty titles issued on Vox, Arabesque, Koch International, and additional imprints. The group traversed the core piano-trio literature, producing complete cycles of the Beethoven, Brahms, and Shostakovich trios, while also promoting new works. In 1996 they released the album Legacies, featuring trios by Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, Leon Kirchner, Stanley Silverman, and Arvo Pärt (the latter an arrangement of Mozart’s Adagio and Fugue, K. 546). Extensive touring took the ensemble around the world, with frequent appearances at such festivals as Tanglewood in Massachusetts, Carnegie Hall’s Centennial Series in New York, and Lincoln Center’s Great Performers Series. Musical America named the trio Ensemble of the Year in 2001, and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., appointed it ensemble-in-residence for the 2003–2004 season. Activity persisted into the 2010s, culminating in a 2011 Bridge label recording of Schubert’s trios and Arpeggione Sonata. Kalichstein died in 2022 at the age of seventy-six.