Benedetti Elschenbroich Grynyuk Trio
Benedetti Elschenbroich Grynyuk Trio
Biography
Each acclaimed as leading soloists of their generation, violinist Nicola Benedetti, cellist Leonard Elschenbroich and pianist Alexei Grynyuk have been performing together as a trio since they met as young music students in London. While attending the Menuhin School, Benedetti and Elschenbroich played chamber music together and later met Alexei Grynyuk, who was studying at the Royal Academy of Music. They made their debut as a trio in the 2009/2010 season with multiple concerts in the UK and at Schloss Elmau in Germany. Since then, Benedetti, Elschenbroich and Grynyuk have maintained their passionate commitment to chamber music with their regular and compelling performances at prestigious concert halls around the world.
The trio’s recent highlights include performances at the Royal Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, Royal Albert Hall, London, Birmingham, Symphony Hall, LSO St Luke’s, Frankfurt, Alte Oper, Die Glocke, Bremen, Hong Kong City Hall, two tours of South America, and an extensive tour of Scotland including concerts at the Usher Hall, Edinburgh and Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow. Festival appearances include Ravinia, Gergiev, Istanbul, Cheltenham and Edinburgh International.
In 2013, at the behest of Leonard Elschenbroich, composer Arlene Sierra wrote a work for the trio titled Butterflies Remember a Mountain, commissioned by the Bremen Philharmonic Society. The trio premiered the work in November 2013 and have since then toured the work internationally in venues including Frankfurt Alte Oper, Town Hall, Cheltenham, Concertgebouw, Amsterdam and London’s Cadogan Hall.
In September 2015, the trio played a sold-out BBC Proms appearance at London’s Cadogan Hall. The Arts Desk lauded the concert as “a convincing Brahms’ Trio performance to end the [2015] Proms Chamber Music series.... Everything the trio did helped to reveal the complexities and demands of the work as a convincing whole. The poise and elegance of the hushed ending was remarkable.”
In the 2015-2016 season, the trio made multiple appearances around the United Kingdom, culminating in a performance at the Southbank Centre’s International Chamber Music Series. The 2016-2017 season saw performances in the United Kingdom, Istanbul, Copenhagen, Dortmund and in their New York debut at the 92nd Street Y. In 2017-2018, the trio commenced their season with summer appearances in South America, performing in Mexico, Lima, Colombia and Chile, marking their third tour to Latin America as a trio. In April 2018, they performed recitals in North America at Vancouver Recital Society, Charlottesville (Virginia) and at Boston’s Gardner Museum. In November 2018 the trio embarked on a month-long Australian tour giving nine performances in seven cities.
In 2020, the trio will tour Europe in March, visiting Saffron Walden, UK, Copenhagen, Bilbao, Bremen, Regensburg and Barcelona performing works by Schumann, Brahms and Wolfgang Rihm’s Fremde Szene.
Nicola Benedetti is one of the most sought-after violinists of her generation. Her ability to captivate audiences and her wide appeal as an advocate for classical music has made her one of the most influential artists of today.
This season, Nicola makes her debut with the Wiener Symphoniker and undergoes a tour of Asia with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and Robin Ticciati. She will also reunite with Vladimir Jurowski and the London Philharmonic Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic and embark on a tour with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (Thomas Søndergård). She performs the Marsalis Violin Concerto with the San Francisco Symphony and James Gaffigan and with Cristian Măcelaru firstly with the Gothenburg Symphony and then again with the Orchestre de Paris. She will reunite with Karina Canellakis with the Rundfunk- Sinfonieorchester Berlin and later with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Similarly, she joins Michael Tilson Thomas for concerts with the London Symphony Orchestra and then with the New World Symphony in Miami. Nicola has been appointed as the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra’s Artist in Residence for 2020 which will include a concerto performance under the baton of Sir Andrew Davis, a European tour and masterclasses. Nicola is also a devoted chamber musician and collaborates with cellist Leonard Elschenbroich and pianist Alexei Grynyuk, who reunite for a European tour in the Spring of 2020.
Last season’s highlights include collaborations with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Seattle Symphony, Frankfurter Museumsorchester, Toscanini Orchestra and Philharmonia. She also undertook tours with the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra and National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain culminating at the BBC Proms. During the summer, joined forces with Iván Fischer to perform with the Budapest Festival Orchestra at Los Angeles’ Hollywood Bowl and performed the Marsalis Violin Concerto at the Aspen Music Festival (Robert Spano) and at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music (Măcelaru).
Nicola is a dedicated, passionate ambassador and leader in music education reaching young people and connecting with teachers, supporting their practice, highlighting their essential role in society and encouraging collaboration and mutual learning. This commitment was underlined in July 2018, when Nicola took over as President of the European String Teachers Association and by establishing a charitable organisation: The Benedetti Foundation.
Winner of the GRAMMY Award for Best Classical Instrumental Solo in 2020, as well as Best Female Artist at both 2012 and 2013 Classical BRIT Awards, Nicola records exclusively for Decca (Universal Music). Her most recent recording features premiere recordings of works written especially for her by jazz musician Wynton Marsalis: Violin Concerto in D and Fiddle Dance Suite for Solo Violin, for which she won her 2020 GRAMMY.
Nicola was appointed a CBE in 2019, awarded the Queen’s Medal for Music (2017), and an MBE in 2013. In addition, Nicola holds the positions of Vice President (National Children’s Orchestras), Big Sister (Sistema Scotland), Patron (National Youth Orchestras of Scotland’s Junior Orchestra, Music in Secondary Schools Trust and Junior Conservatoire at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland).
Nicola plays the Gariel Stradivarius (1717), courtesy of Jonathan Moulds.
Leonard Elschenbroich has established himself as one of the most charismatic cellists of his generation renowned for his passionate and compelling performances. His awards include the Leonard Bernstein Award, Förderpreis Deutschlandfunk, Eugene Istomin Prize, and a Borletti Buitoni Trust Award. He was a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist (2012-2014), Artist- in-Residence at Deutschlandfunk (2014-2015) and Artist-in-Residence at the Philharmonic Society Bremen (2013-2016).
Elschenbroich has worked with a number of eminent conductors including Bychkov, Eschenbach, Dutoit, Honeck, Karabits, Kitajenko, Letonja, Litton, Mena, Gardner, Tortelier and Sinaisky. He has performed with orchestras including the London Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, Bournemouth Symphony, WDR Symphony Orchestra, Konzerthaus Orchester Berlin, NDR Hanover, Dresden Staatskapelle, Bergen Philharmonic, Warsaw Philharmonic, Residentie Orkest, Polish National Radio Symphony, Filharmónica de Sevilla, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Swedish Radio Symphony, St Petersburg Philharmonic and the Netherlands Philharmonic. Further afield his performances include the Japan Philharmonic, Nagoya Philharmonic, New Zealand Symphony, Tasmanian Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra of Washington, Minnesota Orchestra and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He has made seven appearances at the BBC Proms.
An enthusiastic advocate of contemporary music, he gave the world premiere in 2018 of Mark Simpson’s Cello Concerto written specially for him on a commission from the BBC, and he has championed cello concertos by Gilbert Amy, Mark- Anthony Turnage, Peteris Vasks, Magnus Lindberg and Brian Elias. He has commissioned several new works from composers including Turnage, Luca Lombardi, Arlene Sierra and Suzanne Farrin.
A string of superlatives has greeted the release of Elschenbroich’s latest release on Onyx – a cycle of Beethoven Cello Sonatas with Alexei Grynyuk - chosen as “Editor’s Choice” in Gramophone and “Chamber Choice” in BBC Music Magazine (5 stars). Earlier releases include Kabalevsky’s Cello Concerto No. 2 with the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra/Litton, a Hommage to Schnittke, French concertos by Dutilleux and Saint-Saëns, and a sonata disc with works by Rachmaninov and Shostakovich.
He is a fervent supporter of the emergent musical community in Bolivia and Artistic Mentor of the Orquesta Filarmónica de Bolivia, the country’s first national orchestra, which he co-founded in 2012. He returns to Bolivia on a regular basis both for performances and to lead educational projects and has an increasing presence elsewhere in South America performing with the Buenos Aires Philharmonic, Belo Horizonte Orchestra and Medellin Philharmonic as well as in recitals.
Born in 1985 in Frankfurt, Elschenbroich received a scholarship, aged ten, to study at the Yehudi Menuhin School and continued his studies with Frans Helmerson at the Cologne Music Academy. He plays a cello made by Matteo Goffriller “Leonard Rose” (Venice, 1693), on private loan.
Alexei Grynyuk. described by Le Figaro (Paris) as “master of transparent and sovereign touch...astonishing personality and absolute transcendental virtuosity” is equally at home in classical, romantic and twentieth-century repertoire. He has already appeared at many of the world’s most renowned concert halls, including Wigmore Hall and the Southbank Centre, London, Salle Cortot & Salle Gaveau, Paris, the Great Hall of Moscow Conservatoire, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and other prominent venues of Europe, United States, Mexico, Japan, South Korea and Morocco. Competition in Kiev and the Shanghai Competition in China.
“Overwhelming with divine purity...he has captured the audience with a deep musicality...crystal clear and beautiful tone... a dignified, beautifully structured performance.” (Chopin Magazine, Tokyo).
January 2021