Neave Trio

The Neave Trio has established itself as a prominent American chamber ensemble, earning acclaim across both standard and modern repertoire while standing out for an unusually broad array of artistic partnerships in a field often marked by insularity.

Formed in 2010 by violinist Anna Williams, cellist Mikhail Veselov, and pianist Eri Nakamura, the ensemble—whose Gaelic-derived name signifies “bright” or “radiant”—quickly secured engagements throughout the United States. Appearances in New York have included the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and the 92nd Street Y, while the group has also been presented by the La Jolla Chamber Music Society. Boston performances prompted The Musical Intelligencer to name the trio Best of 2014 and Best of 2016, declaring that “their unanimity, communication, variety of touch, and expressive sensibility rate first tier.”

Further afield, the Neave Trio has appeared on the Norwich Chamber Music Series in the United Kingdom and at museum-based chamber series in Russia. The ensemble has joined various orchestras for performances of Beethoven’s Triple Concerto in C major, Op. 56. Residencies have come at a notable pace for a young group; beginning in 2017 the members have served as Alumni Artists, Faculty Ensemble in Residence, at Bard College, their alma mater in upstate New York. Multimedia projects have been especially prominent, encompassing work with projection artist Ryan Brady, composer Amanuel Zarzowski, and the Blythe Barton Dance Company. The trio has given the world premieres of Augusta Read Thomas’s Klee Musings and Eric Nathan’s Missing Words V and is slated to feature in a forthcoming short film centered on the music of Astor Piazzolla.

A further distinction came with the group’s signing to Chandos, a label whose roster has long been dominated by British and European artists. Its debut release, American Moments (2016), presented works by Bernstein, Korngold, and Foote; the follow-up, French Moments (2018), included music by Debussy, Fauré, and Albert Roussel. In the late 2010s the trio began a new residency at the University of Virginia. Returning to the studio in 2019, the ensemble recorded Her Voice: Beach, Clarke, Farrenc. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic it issued a video performance of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah that has amassed more than a million views. The 2022 album Musical Remembrances brought together trios by Rachmaninov, Brahms, and Ravel.