Beethoven's Hands
The Beethoven Project Trio is more than just a performing group. It is an idea, it is a mission, constituted by a multitude of projects that encompass performing, teaching, speaking, reaching out to communities across the board, and engaging the world of NOW to make the biggest contribution within our power for a better world TOMORROW.
Since the trio’s formation in 2008, it has been engaged in projects that go well beyond the traditional concert stage, which is why pianist George Lepauw founded the International Beethoven Project in 2009, a not-for-profit designed to handle a variety of special projects that include the Beethoven Project Trio, as well as a multi-functional and flexible group known as the Beethoven Project Players, created to perform in a variety of formats from duos to octets. The IBP also includes the development of lecture series, master classes, educational outreach, and charity support projects.
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Specific projects of the Beethoven Project Trio up to date include:
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-The Beethoven Premiere Project
-The Beethoven Film Project
-The Beethoven Education and Charity Project
-The Beethoven Composer Commission Project
-The Beethoven Everywhere Project
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The Beethoven Premiere Project
Performing the World Premiere of Beethoven's Trio in E Flat
The original reason for the founding of the trio was to perform the World Premiere, and two American Premieres, of three trios by Beethoven that had been rediscovered and authenticated by Beethoven scholars in Europe and the U.S., including James F. Green, the editor of the Hess Catalogue of the Complete Works of Beethoven. It was Mr. Green, with the full support of the American Beethoven Society and the Association Beethoven France, that asked pianist George Lepauw to form a trio for the purpose of giving these premieres. George asked Sang Mee and Wendy to be a part of this amazing once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and the rest is history! The Premiere concert took place on March 1, 2009 in Chicago’s Murphy Auditorium, to a sold-out house and international acclaim, and carried live on 98.7 WFMT Radio in Chicago. (For more details on the World Premiere performance and the pieces’ history, visit the original website, BeethovenTrio.com)
Since then, the Beethoven Premiere Project has continued in two ways: the development of Premiere performances in different cities and countries, and the Premiere recording of these works for commercial release.
Premiere performances of these works include major national and international tours being planned over the course of the next two seasons, with a kickoff upon the occasion of the East Coast New York City Premiere performance at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall on May 18, 2010.
Recording session at the American Academy of Arts and Letters
The Premiere recording was made in New York City between August 31 and September 4, 2009, at the beautiful American Academy of Arts and Letters. The producer was the legendary Max Wilcox, a seventeen-time Grammy-Award winner, and whose most amazing collaboration was with the famed pianist Artur Rubinstein over the course of nearly twenty years, for the RCA Victor label. Co-producing was the equally wonderful Joe Patrych. The label carrying the recording is Chicago’s own treasure, Cedille Records, founded by James Ginsburg twenty years ago, and now one of the most successful independent labels in the United States. The recording was released commercially and distributed globally beginning May 27, 2010. It is also available for purchase on this website.
In addition, 2010 was the first year that the trio performed the complete piano trios of Beethoven, marking the first complete cycle to include the newly found piano trios.
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The Beethoven Film Project
Mike Cahill at our recording session
This is the creation of a feature documentary film on the Beethoven Premiere Project, directed by Emmy-Award winner Mike Cahill. The aim of this film is to reach a much wider audience than it is even possible giving concerts. The documentary will tell the story of how these pieces came to be rediscovered and premiered over two hundred years after their composition, and it will show the Beethoven Project Trio in the recording process as well as in performance, giving a better understanding of how chamber music is prepared and performed.
Another component of the film project is the creation of short films about Beethoven, and the creation of short art films directly inspired by the music of Beethoven.
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The Beethoven Education and Charity Project
The purpose of this outreach is to have a more direct impact on education and charity. That means that the trio actively seeks out opportunities, wherever it goes, to perform master classes for young aspiring musicians; it means the trio actively seeks opportunities to speak and play for children, and for people in general who do not have easy economic or physical access to first-class classical performances, whether they be in the inner city, too far from the city, or in regions or countries where classical performances never or rarely ever occur.
This project is also a way for the trio to collaborate with charities on making a bigger impact with their fund-raising efforts, especially those that support education for children and women, those that help bring culture to people otherwise deprived of access, those that promote peace and those that promote research and awareness of certain diseases that have a particularly negative effect on large segments of society, and severely compromise future generations such as AIDS and malaria, or toward the support of vital life-enhancing necessities like access to drinking water. It is the belief of each member of the trio that music can be as important as any other tool available, in giving a helping hand toward the solving of some of the world’s problems, and that those of us lucky enough to have the freedom and the ability to choose our passion as a means to live, should give back and try to play a role in building a world that gives that choice to all.
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The Beethoven Composer Commission Project
For the Beethoven Project Trio, it is just as important to promote the great works of Beethoven and other masters as it is to promote worthy creations by the composers of our day. That is why a commission project has been created, to allow for the commissioning of new works for piano trio, which is a form many leading composers today do not write for, lacking funds to do so. Through fund raising, and finding grants, the Beethoven Project Trio expects to premiere two new trio works every year.
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The Beethoven Everywhere Project
This is a fun project of creating mini Beethoven festivals in a lot of different places, from concert halls to private homes to schools and to the streets. It is a collaboration between the International Beethoven Project and the Beethoven Project Trio, and aims to get a lot of different people and institutions, from schools to corporations, involved in presenting these educational, inspiring and fun festivals.
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Support these projects!
Donate!
Funding is primary to the success of these projects, and each one has different requirements. Whether you can give one dollar, a million dollars, or anywhere in between, by donating you will enter into a rewarding long term partnership with the Beethoven Project Trio and its umbrella organization, the International Beethoven Project. If you would like to discuss donating directly with us, you may contact us by using the form below, or by emailing us at InternationalBeethovenProject at gmail dot com. You may also telephone at 312 772 5821. All donations are tax-deductible.
You can also make a donation now by clicking the link below. Although it will say that it is for the PianoForte Foundation, our partner, you must designate your donation in the appropriate box to the Beethoven Project, and if you wish your donation to go toward a specific area of the Beethoven Project, you must add that as well. Unfortunately, the donation website only accepts donations of $10 or above. For smaller donations, you must send a check made out to the PianoForte Foundation, ref. Beethoven Project/… and mail it to the International Beethoven Project, Fine Arts Building, 408 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60605.
To take a look at our primary donor levels, please click here.
Donate now!
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Volunteer!
To volunteer some of your time to the project is also tremendously valuable and helpful for the continued success of these various endeavors. Whatever your skills are, your help can go a long way, and whether you live in the Chicago area or in the steppes of Mongolia, you can, along with an internet connection, do a lot for the advancement of our mission. Please contact us if you would like to discuss opportunities by using the contact box below or writing to us at InternationalBeethovenProject at gmail dot com. You can also telephone at 312 772 5821.
Please let us know what you think of all this! We always love to hear from you.
