Carleton College Presents Rare Performance by Key Members of the Minnesota Orchestra

On Sunday, May 12 at 3 p.m., Carleton College is pleased to present a rare performance by Minnesota Orchestra principals Erin Keefe and Tony Ross, along with faculty pianist Nicola Melville. The 90-minute concert of piano trios will be held in the Concert Hall and is free and open to the public.

“This is a very special opportunity to hear some of the brilliant Minnesota Orchestra musicians in concert,” says Melville.  “For those music-lovers who have been pining for regular Minnesota Orchestra concerts this season, this is a fantastic chance to catch these very skilled players in action. And right here in Northfield. What a treat for us all.”

Along with acclaimed composer and pianist Melville, professor of music at Carleton, the performance will feature key members of Minnesota’s world-class orchestra, concertmaster and violist Erin Keefe and principal cello Tony Ross. The trio will perform Haydn's “Piano Trio in E Major” and the “Piano Trio in C Minor” by Johannes Brahms. The afternoon will conclude with Paul Schoenfield's lively and evocative "Café Music.”

Violist Erin Keefe was became concertmaster of the Minnesota Orchestra in September 2011. In 2009, she was awarded both the Pro Musicis International Award and the Grand Prize in the Valsesia Musica International Violin Competition in Italy. She has presented recitals throughout the United States, Austria, Germany, Korea, Poland, Japan and Denmark.  A native of Northampton, Mass., Keefe earned a Master of Music from the Juilliard School and her Bachelor of Music from the Curtis Institute of Music.

Anthony Ross, the principal cello for the Minnesota Orchestra, has appeared in many festivals, including Mostly Mozart (NYC),  Cactus Pear (San Antonio) and Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society (Madison), and has performed on stages around the globe. Ross earned a Master’s degree at the State University of New York, Stony Brook.

Nicola Melville received her Bachelor of Music from the Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, and her Masters of Music, Doctor of Musical Arts and the Performers Certificate from the Eastman School of Music.  Melville has commissioned and premiered many works by composers in the United States and her native New Zealand. Melville also has been featured live in concert on a number of radio stations including Chinese National Radio. Her CD, “The Piano Rags of William Albright,” is available on the Equilibrium label.

Founded in 1903, the Minnesota Orchestra has been led by Finnish conductor Osmo Vänskä, the ensemble’s 10th music director, since 2003. Under his direction, the Minnesota Orchestra has garnered significant critical praise, including a 2010 description from The New Yorker’s Alex Ross as sounding like “the greatest orchestra in the world.”

This performance is sponsored by the Carleton College Department of Music. For more information, including disability accommodations, call (507) 222-4475. The Concert Hall is located on First Street, between Nevada and Winona Streets, in Northfield.