GRAMMY®-Nominated Neave Trio Announces New Album on Chandos Records: A Room of Her Own
GRAMMY®-Nominated Neave Trio Announces New Album on
Chandos Records: A Room of Her Own
Featuring the Music of Lili Boulanger, Cécile Chaminade,
Germaine Tailleferre, and Dame Ethel Smyth
Worldwide Release: February 2, 2024
Downloads and CDs available to press on request
“[The Neave Trio] shows enormous stylistic variety, from great pathos to playful mischievousness to exuberant virtuosity”
– BBC Music Magazine
www.neavetrio.com | www.chandos.net
The GRAMMY®-nominated Neave Trio (violinist Anna Williams, cellist Mikhail Veselov, and pianist Eri Nakamura), announces its next album, A Room of Her Own, available worldwide on February 2, 2024. A Room of Her Own is the Neave Trio’s fifth for Chandos Records, and includes D’un matin de printemps and D’un soir triste from Lili Boulanger’s Deux Pièces en trio (1917-18); Cecile Chaminade’s Trio No. 1, Op. 11 (1880); Germaine Tailleferre’s Trio (1916-17, revised 1978); and Ethel Smyth’s Trio (1880).
A Room of Her Own follows the Neave Trio’s critically acclaimed third Chandos album, 2019’s Her Voice, which was named one of the best recordings of the year by both The New York Times and BBC Radio 3, and features the music of distinguished women composers Louise Farrenc, Amy Beach, and Rebecca Clarke.
Two generations of composers are represented on A Room of Her Own: Cécile Chaminade and Ethel Smyth were born in 1857 and 1858 respectively, while Germaine Tailleferre and Lili Boulanger were born in 1892 and 1893. All four were in their early twenties when they composed the works on this album. Smyth had just begun composing in her late teens, and the Piano Trio is one of her earliest known works, while Chaminade and Boulanger had been writing prolifically from an early age; Boulanger died prematurely, at the age of twenty-four, and her piano trios were among her final compositions, while the longest-lived of these composers, Tailleferre, returned to revise her forgotten early trio in her mid-eighties. The early lives of these composers were shaped by varying levels of familial support and educational opportunity, and each had to contend – in different ways – with the gendered barriers that faced women in music throughout their lifetimes.
“We are excited to record these trios by Ethel Smyth, Chaminade, Tailleferre, and Lili Boulanger because of the distinctive voices these composers bring to the chamber music repertoire,” says the Neave Trio. “Each piece reflects a unique perspective, showcasing the distinctive styles and innovative approaches of these composers. Their compositions, though from different time periods and backgrounds, share a common thread of breaking conventional norms, making them powerful representations of female artistry in a historically male-dominated field. By recording and performing these trios, we aim to celebrate the richness of their musical contributions and emphasize the importance of recognizing and promoting the works of wonderful composers who happened to be women.”
Hailed by BBC Music Magazine for its "generous and warm-hearted, utterly beguiling playing, the Neave Trio has emerged as one of the finest young ensembles of its generation. It has been praised by WQXR Radio in New York City for its "bright and radiant music making," described by The Strad as having "elegant phrasing and deft control of textures," and praised by The New York Times for its "excellent performances."
The Neave Trio’s 2022 album Musical Remembrances was nominated for a GRAMMY® in the Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble category. Musical Remembrances features Rachmaninoff’s Trio élégiaque No. 1, Brahms’ Piano Trio No. 1, Op. 8, and Ravel’s Piano Trio in A minor, Op. 67, and is the Neave Trio’s fourth album with Chandos Records. In addition to Her Voice, previous releases include French Moments (2018), which includes the only known piano trios by Debussy, Fauré, and Roussel; and Neave’s Chandos debut, American Moments (2016), featuring works by Korngold, Foote, and Bernstein. In 2018, Neave Trio also released its critically acclaimed album, Celebrating Piazzolla (Azica Records, 2018), featuring mezzo-soprano Carla Jablonski.
A Room of Her Own | Neave Trio | Chandos Records
Release Date: February 2, 2024 (Worldwide)
Recorded March 15-17 2023 at Potton Hall, Dunwich, Suffolk, England
Lili Boulanger (1893-1918)
[1] D’un matin de printemps (1917-18) [4:47]
No. 1 from Deux Pièces en trio for Violin, Cello, and Piano Assez animé – Rubato – Tempo I
[2] D’un soir triste (1917-18) [10:15]
No. 2 from Deux Pièces en trio for Violin, Cello, and Piano Lent, grave – Un peu mouvementé – Large – Large – Plus lent, funèbre – Très élargi, libre – Lent – Mouvement I
Cécile Chaminade (1857-1944): Trio No. 1, Op. 11 in G minor for Violin, Cello, and Piano (1880) [22:20]
[3] I Allegro – Meno mosso – Tempo I – Poco meno mosso – Tempo I [8:19]
[4] II Andante – Animato – Tempo I [4:34]
[5] III Presto leggiero [3:38]
[6] IV Allegro molto agitato – Poco più mosso [5:49]
Germaine Tailleferre (1892–1983): Trio for Piano, Violin, and Cello (1916– 17, revised 1978) [14:16]
[7] I Allegro animato [4:04]
[8] II Allegro vivace [3:14]
[9] III Moderato [2:55]
[10] IV Très animé – Accélérez – Tempo I [4:01]
Ethel Smyth (1858-1944): Trio in D minor for Piano, Violin, and Cello (1880) [31:11]
[11] I Allegro non troppo – Grandioso (breit) – Meno mosso [9:35]
[12] II ‘Der Mutte [sic] der Einfachkeit [sic]?!’ (The Courage of Simplicity?!).
Andante – Scherzando – Poco meno mosso [6:17]
[13] III Scherzo. Presto con brio – Trio – Scherzo da capo – Coda [4:08]
[14] IV Finale. Allegro vivace [11:09]
Total Time: [83:10]
Recording producer: Jonathan Cooper
Sound engineer: Jonathan Cooper
Editor: Jonathan Cooper
A&R administrator Sue Shortridge
Front cover Photograph of Neave Trio by Lisa-Marie Mazzucco Photography
Design and typesetting Cass Cassidy
Booklet editor Finn S. Gundersen
Publishers Éditions Henry Lemoine, Paris (Tailleferre), Roberton Publications (Goodmusic
Publishing), Tewkesbury (Smyth), Éditions Durand, Paris (other works)
℗ 2024 Chandos Records Ltd
About the Neave Trio: Since forming in 2010, GRAMMY®–nominated Neave Trio – violinist Anna Williams, cellist Mikhail Veselov, and pianist Eri Nakamura – has earned enormous praise for its engaging, cutting-edge performances. New York's classical music radio station WQXR explains, "'Neave' is actually a Gaelic name meaning 'bright' and 'radiant', both of which certainly apply to this trio's music making." Gramophone has praised the trio's "taut and vivid interpretations," while The Strad calls out their "eloquent phrasing and deft control of textures" and BBC Music Magazine describes their performances as balancing "passion with sensitivity and grace."
Neave has performed at many esteemed concert series and at festivals worldwide, including Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 92nd Street Y, Rockport Chamber Music Festival, Norfolk and Norwich Chamber Music Series (United Kingdom), and the Samoylov and Rimsky Korsakow Museums’ Chamber Music Series in St. Petersburg (Russia). The trio has held residency positions at Brown University, University of Virginia, Longy School of Music of Bard College, San Diego State University as the first-ever Fisch/Axelrod Trio-in-Residence, and the Banff Centre (Canada), among many other institutions. Neave Trio was also in residence at the MIT School of Architecture and Design in collaboration with dancer/choreographer Richard Colton. During the 2023-2024 season, Neave Trio joined the faculty of Virginia Commonwealth University as the inaugural ensemble-in-residence.
Neave Trio strives to champion new works by living composers and reach wider audiences through innovative concert presentations, regularly collaborating with artists of all mediums. These collaborations include the premiere of Robert Paterson’s Triple Concerto with the Mostly Modern Orchestra under the direction of JoAnn Falletta; D-Cell: an Exhibition & Durational Performance, conceived and directed by multi-disciplinary visual artist David Michalek; as well as performances with the Blythe Barton Dance Company; with dance collective BodySonnet; with projection designer Ryan Brady; in the interactive concert series “STEIN2.0,” with composer Amanuel Zarzowski; in the premiere of Klee Musings by acclaimed American composer Augusta Read Thomas; in the premiere of Eric Nathan’s Missing Words V, sponsored by Coretet; in Leah Reid’s Cloud Burst for piano trio and electronics; in Dale Trumbore’s Another Chance; and in a music video by filmmaker Amanda Alvarez Díaz of Astor Piazzolla’s "Otoño Porteño.” During the 2024-25 season, the Neave Trio will collaborate with Pigeonwing Dance, composer Robert Sirota, and choreographer Gabrielle Lamb to perform Rising, an evening-length work which meditates not only on rising temperatures and sea levels, but also on humanity’s rising awareness of our connection to and dependence on the Earth’s oceans.
Recent and upcoming highlights include performances presented by Harvard University, Kaatsbaan, Rockport Celtic Festival, Chamber Music Tulsa, the Chicago Chamber Music Society, Friends of Chamber Music Portland, Boston Athenaeum, the Williams Center at Lafayette College, and many more. For more information, visit www.neavetrio.com.