Boulanger Trio - Piano trio

The Boulanger Trio holds all the trump cards to take on the legacy of the legendary Beaux Arts Trio.
Luxemburger Tageblatt

With the founding of the Boulanger Trio in 2006, pianist Karla Haltenwanger, violinist Birgit Erz and cellist Ilona Kindt fulfilled their dream of dedicating their lives to chamber music. Even 14 years later, the three musicians still consider it a privilege to be able to devote themselves to the rich, varied repertoire of their genre daily. The trio, which is based in Hamburg and Berlin and still plays in its original formation, has gained an excellent reputation in the chamber music scene in a very short time. Die Welt described the ensemble as "irresistible", and the composer Wolfgang Rihm wrote in a letter: "To be interpreted like this is probably a dream come true for every composer."

The trio delights audiences and the press alike with its passionate playing and intelligent interpretations. Through its unbiased view of the works, it always finds its very own tonal language for each composer it deals with. Here, the three artists' will to express themselves, is palpable at every moment, and the intensity with which they trace every musical detail is captivating. The distinct sense of sound and the blind understanding of the three musicians, who also enjoy spending time together in private, make the trio's concerts unforgettable moments.

Previous seasons have taken the trio to the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, the Berlin Philharmonie, the Palais des Beaux-Arts Brussels, Wigmore Hall London, the Elbphilharmonie, the Konzerthaus Wien and the Musikverein Wien. The ensemble is a regular guest at festivals such as the Heidelberger Frühling, the Kissinger Sommer, the Sommerliche Musiktage Hitzacker and the Enescu Festival Bucharest. As a soloist trio, the musicians have performed with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, the Brandenburg Symphony Orchestra, the Lower Rhine Symphony Orchestra, the Cluj Symphony Orchestra and the Bern Symphony Orchestra under the direction of conductors such as Antoni Wit and Lera Auerbach. Her chamber music partners include Sebastian Manz, Shirley Brill, Andrè Schuen and Nils Mönkemeyer. In collaboration with actors Johann von Bülow and Ulrich Noethen, the ensemble has performed various enthusiastically received programmes of literature and music in recent years.

In addition to their involvement with the classical and romantic repertoire, the musicians are sought-after interpreters of new music. Among others, they work with composers such as Beat Furrer, Wolfgang Rihm, Johannes Maria Staud, Friedrich Cerha, Toshio Hosokawa and Matthias Pintscher. In 2012, the ensemble launched its concert series, Boulangerie, which takes place regularly in Hamburg and Berlin. At each concert in this series, the musicians combine classical repertoire with a contemporary piece whose composer is present during the concert and talks to the three musicians about his or her work.

The Boulanger Trio can point to an impressive discography: on nine CDs to date, the Boulanger Trio has documented its extensive oeuvre. Here it remains true to its credo of always presenting a concept. The CD "Solitaires" with gems of the trio literature was the CD of the month at the Bavarian, Hessian and North German Radio. The recording of Beethoven's Scottish and Irish Songs together with the up-and-coming baritone Andrè Schuen was also CD of the Month at BR-Klassik. The Beethoven CD and the Shostakovich-Vasks CD were honoured with the Supersonic Award, and in 2010 the trio received the coveted Excellentia Award in Luxembourg for its Brahms-Schönberg-Liszt CD. The most recently released CD with works by Juon and Tchaikovsky was chosen as the best chamber music recording of the fourth quarter of 2018 by the German Record Critics' Prize. In early 2021, the most recently recorded CD will be released by Berlin Classics: it is dedicated to Nadia Boulanger as a pedagogue and unites her students Quincy Jones, Jean Françaix, Aaron Copland, Philip Glass, Leonard Bernstein and Astor Piazzolla in one recording.

In its founding year, the ensemble, whose mentors include Hatto Beyerle, Menahem Pressler, Niklas Schmidt and Alfred Brendel, was invited to the 5th Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition as one of eight piano trios worldwide. The following year, the three musicians won the 4th Trondheim International Chamber Music Competition in Norway, and in 2008 they were awarded the Rauhe Prize for New Chamber Music.

The trio takes its name from the sisters Nadia and Lili Boulanger, whose extraordinary personalities and uncompromising commitment to music have been a great source of inspiration for musicians to this day.