The Lysander Piano Trio Announces James Kim as New Cellist - Releases New Videos and Website
L-R: Itamar Zorman, violin; Liza Stepanova, piano; James Kim, cello. Photo by Irina Rozovsky available in high resolution here.
The Lysander Piano Trio Announces James Kim as New Cellist
“an uncommon degree of heart-on-the-sleeve emotional frankness” – The Washington Post
New Website: www.lysandertrio.com
Watch New Performance Videos of Lysander Piano Trio with Cellist James Kim
Athens, GA (February 4, 2025) – The Lysander Piano Trio announces that James Kim has been appointed as the ensemble’s new cellist; Kim succeeds Michael Katz and joins original members violinist Itamar Zorman and pianist Liza Stepanova. Founded at The Juilliard School in 2009, the Lysander has been praised by The Strad for its “incredible ensemble, passionate playing, articulate and imaginative ideas and wide palette of colors” and by The Washington Post for “vivid engagement carried by soaring, ripely Romantic playing.” The Trio is devoted to inventive programming, finding intriguing connections between works from all over the world, and uncovering lesser-known gems of the repertoire from the past to the present. Coinciding with the announcement of James Kim’s appointment, the Trio has released several new performance videos with Kim, a preview of a new collaboration with performance artist Kevork Mourad, and a newly re-designed website.
Outgoing cellist Michael Katz joined the Lysander Piano Trio in 2010, performing with the group for several competition wins, including the Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition in 2012, on two commercial recordings, and in multiple performances at Carnegie Hall as well as extensively on tour in over 100 concerts in the US, Canada, Mexico, Denmark, and Israel. He is departing the ensemble to join the Philadelphia Orchestra in April 2025.
Cellist James Kim, who continues the Lysander Piano Trio’s connection to The Juilliard School having studied there as well, is lauded by The New York Times for his “admirable purity of tone and accuracy.” Kim has appeared as soloist with the Boston Symphony, Royal Philharmonic, Wallonie Royal Chamber, and Juilliard Orchestra working with conductors such as David Zinman, Michael Sanderling, Alexander Shelley, Keith Lockhart, Frank Braley, Tan Dun, Julian Kovatchev, and Benjamin Zander onstage at Carnegie Stern Auditorium, Boston Symphony Hall, Jordan Hall, and Metropolitan Museum of Art. Kim has given solo recitals at Carnegie Weill Hall, Seoul Arts Center IBK Hall, Midday Masterpieces Series at the Greene Space, McGraw Hill Young Artist Showcase hosted by Robert Sherman, Beautiful Thursday Series at Kumho Art Hall, Garden City Chamber Music Series curated by Bruce Adolphe, James Kim with Friends at Music Space Camerata in Paju, Tuesday Series at Seoul National University, and Faculty Artist Series at UGA Performing Arts Center. His performances have been broadcasted on radio stations NPR and WQXR. Kim also performs extensively in his native Korea. A champion of the music by Shinuh Lee, he premiered her Cello Concerto in 2021 and released Death and Offering, an album of her works dedicated to him, through Sony Classical in the same year. Winner of the 2006 David Popper International Cello Competition and 2012 Salon de Virtuosi’s Sony Career Grant, Kim is a laureate of the 2015 Isang Yun International Cello Competition and 2024 Naumburg International Cello Competition.
Stepanova and Zorman say, "It is a bittersweet day. We are grateful to Michael for fifteen years of adventures on the road and for getting to know the cornerstones of the piano trio literature inside and out through many performances with him. We thank him for these many years of joyful music-making and are certainly wishing him all the best for his next chapter with the Philadelphia Orchestra. At the same time, we are very excited to welcome James to our group. Reading with him late in the fall, and starting to perform together this January, it was clear right away that this was an excellent musical fit. We think about phrasing, colors, and making chamber music in a similar way. And, he just sounds fantastic! We are looking forward to working together from our joint homebase at the University of Georgia in Athens, which will allow for in-depth rehearsing as well as some exciting recording opportunities!”
“I am delighted to join the Lysander Piano Trio in future concerts and projects,” says James Kim. “Our rehearsals produce a joy I look forward to sharing with audiences. Our pursuit of bringing music to life through meaning and conversation embodies my ideal life as a musician, so I am immensely excited to start this new chapter.”
The Lysander Piano Trio performed for the first time with James Kim on January 9 at the University of Georgia in Athens, where both Stepanova and Kim are on the faculty of the Hugh Hodgson School of Music. On February 9, the Trio will collaborate with Franklin Pond Chamber Music in Atlanta to present an educational workshop and performance. Next season’s highlights thus far include collaborations with Argentine bandoneonist JP Jofre and a new concert program with visual artist Kevork Mourad, as well as performances in New York, New Mexico, California, a tour of the US Southeast, and more.
Watch selections from the Lysander Piano Trio’s stunning first performance with cellist James Kim:
Watch Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Trio in D major, Op. 70 No. 1 "Ghost”:
Watch Rebecca Clarke’s Piano Trio:
Watch video of the Lysander’s new collaboration with Kevork Mourad:
More About the Lysander Piano Trio:
The Lysander Piano Trio has spent over a decade performing around the US with appearances at notable venues such as the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater, Los Angeles’ Da Camera Society, Atlanta’s Spivey Hall, San Francisco’s Music at Kohl Mansion, Palm Beach's Kravis Center and Norton Museum of Art, Chamber Music Raleigh, Concerts International Memphis, Sanibel Music Festival, Florida Keys Concert Association, Chamber Music Tulsa, Juneau Jazz and Classics, and notable college venues including Middlebury College, Clemson University, Lee University’s Presidential Concert Series, Purdue University’s Convocations Series, and University of Illinois’ Krannert Center. Summer and festival appearances include the Bard Music Festival, Cooperstown Summer Music Festival, Copenhagen Summer Festival, The Chautauqua Institution, Princeton University Summer Chamber Concerts, and a critically acclaimed recital at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. The Lysander Trio also performed abroad in recent seasons, notably at Calgary Pro Musica in Canada, Pro Musica San Miguel de Allende in Mexico, and a tour of Israel. Orchestral engagements include Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with the DuPage Symphony Orchestra, University of Wyoming Symphony Orchestra and Greenwich Village Orchestra in New York City.
Highlights of the 2024-25 season include performances at the Asheville Chamber Music Series, Bender JCC of Greater Washington, Chamber Music Society of Central Kentucky, Chamber Music Society of Utica, Cosmos Club, Valley Classical Concerts, Westchester Chamber Music Society, Music Mountain, Hunter International Music Festival, Nantucket Musical Arts Society, and other notable series in Chattanooga, Palm Beach, and the Greater Boston area. In the 2023-24 season, the Trio gave debuts at Parlance Chamber Concerts, Feldman Chamber Music Society, Chamber Music Society of Williamsburg, Northeast Kingdom Classical Series, Blue Hill Concert Association, University of Idaho's Auditorium Chamber Music Series, Nelson Overture Concerts Society, and Kelowna Chamber Concert Association in Canada. In the spring of 2023, the Lysander "brought the house down" (Dumbarton Concerts) with its new tango-infused collaboration with Argentine bandoneonist and composer JP Jofre.
The Trio has a long-standing commitment to working with living composers and building a new repertoire for the piano trio. The Lysander Trio's latest commission, Nostos by Udi Perlman, was premiered in 2024 and has been received enthusiastically by audiences across the US. Following a recent performance of Nostos at Music Mountain, The Millbrook Independent proclaimed: "That melody has been ringing in my ears over the past twenty-four hours; it provided a delightful conclusion, and I wished to hear the work once more!" The ensemble’s commissions also include Gilad Cohen’s Around the Cauldron (2017), co-commissioned by Concert Artists Guild and premiered at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall; Ghostwritten Variations, by Venezuelan-American composer Reinaldo Moya; Jakub Ciupinski’s The Black Mirror; and Four Movements Inspired by “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” penned by four pre-teen composers of ComposerCraft from NYC’s Kaufman Music Center and premiered at Merkin Concert Hall in 2014.
Lysander members also premiered Jennifer Higdon’s Love Sweet for soprano and piano trio, which received its world-premiere recording together with acclaimed soprano Sarah Shafer on the group’s 2021 release, Mirrors. Beyond its praise from Musical America for being “strikingly inventive…meticulous” and from The Strad for its “evocative moments,” Gramophone celebrated Mirrors by noting that “all six of this release’s compositions benefit from the Lysander Trio’s finely honed ensemble values and well-characterised solo contributions.” The Trio’s debut recording After A Dream (CAG Records) was acclaimed by The New York Times for its “polished and spirited interpretations.”
The Lysander Piano Trio, whose name is inspired by the character in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, was formed at The Juilliard School. The Trio studied with Ronald Copes of the Juilliard String Quartet, the late Joseph Kalichstein, and Seymour Lipkin. Early in their career, Lysander became a standout at competitions, with top honors at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, the Coleman Chamber Ensemble Competition (Grand Prize), the J. C. Arriaga Chamber Music Competition (First Prize), and the Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition.
