The NEW ARTS TRIO has firmly established itself as one of America's most distinguished piano trios. Since its inception in 1974, the Trio has performed in major cities throughout the United States and Canada including Washington, Boston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, Denver, Phoenix, San Francisco, Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal. In New York City, the NEW ARTS TRIO has appeared at Alice Tully Hall, the 92nd St. 'Y,' and Carnegie Hall's Weil Recital Hall. In addition, they made several tours of Europe.

Since 1978, the TRIO has been in residence at the Chautauqua Institution. During the 7-week Festival, they perform, present master classes, coach chamber music and teach students who come to study with them from all over the world. In 2008 at Chautauqua, the Trio celebrated its 30th consecutive season premiering two new trios written for them. The Trios are Idoru by Michael Colina and I Believe by Ella Milch-Sheriff.

The TRIO has three CD's on Fleur De Son Classics: the Arensky Trios, Beethoven's Arrangements for Piano Trio (2nd Symphony and the Septet), and New Arts Trio in Recital at Chautauqua (works by Beethoven, Brahms, Bloch, Part and Piazzola). A new CD is forthcoming in fall 2009.

The founder of the NEW ARTS TRIO, Rebecca Penneys (rebeccapenneys.com) is Professor of Piano at Eastman School of Music, Chair of the Chautauqua Piano Department, and Visiting Artist, St. Petersburg College. She leads a distinguished career as a recitalist, chamber musician, orchestral soloist and teacher. In recent seasons she has appeared in East Asia, New Zealand, Australia, Europe, Israel, South America and throughout the United States and Canada. Born in Los Angeles, Ms. Penneys has received many prestigious awards including the unprecedented Special Critics' Prize at the Seventh International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, Poland and was twice awarded the Naumburg Award for Chamber music. Her teachers include Aube Tzerko, Leonard Stein, Rosina Lhevinne, Artur Rubinstein, Menahem Pressler, Gyorgy Sebok and Janos Starker. Ms. Penneys' seven most recent CD's are: On the Centaur label, The Voice of the Piano, and The Complete Chopin Etudes; On Fleur De Son Classics, All Brahms, Recital Gems from Chautauqua, An Eastman Recital, Music of the Dance and Rebecca Penneys & Steinway. A renowned pedagogue, she is co-author of a book entitled The Fundamentals of Flow State Learning in Music.

Jacques Israelievitch, Violin...

In 1999, JACQUES ISRAELIEVITCH joined the NEW ARTS TRIO. Born in Cannes, France he performed on French National Radio at 11 and graduated from the Paris Conservatoire at the age of 16 with three first prizes. A disciple of Henryk Szeryng and teaching assistant to Josef Gingold, he was just 23 when Georg Solti appointed him assistant concertmaster of the Chicago Symphony. Six seasons later, he joined the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra as Concertmaster and held that position for 10 years. In 1988 he was appointed Concertmaster of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Israelievitch is in great demand as a recitalist and chamber musician. He has appeared as soloist with many of the world's leading conductors including the late Georg Solti, Carlo Maria Giulini, Raymond Leppard, Jukka-Pekka Saraste & Leonard Slatkin. He conducts and teaches regularly in North America, Europe and Japan. In 1995, in recognition of his contribution to the world of music, he was awarded a knighthood by the French government in the order of Arts ET Lettres. In 2008, Mr. Israelievitch completed his 20th and final year as Concertmaster of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. In 2008, the Toronto Musicians' Association presented him with a Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his distinguished contribution to the performing arts in Canada. He currently is a full-time member of the faculty at York University.

  Arie Lipsky, Cello...

ARIE LIPSKY was born in Haifa, Israel, where he received degrees in Aeronautical Engineering and Music before serving in the Armed Forces. He was as principal cellist of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra for seventeen years and performed the major concerto repertoire in Buffalo and on tours. Mr. Lipsky studied with Leonard Rose, Pablo Casals and Alan Harris; he graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Music with distinction. He was a top prizewinner in the Chicago Cello Society Competition and performed as principal cellist with the Haifa Symphony, the Cleveland Opera, and the Colorado Music Festival. Mr. Lipsky was Resident Conductor of the Buffalo Philharmonic for twelve years. In 1996, Mr. Lipsky joined the NEW ARTS TRIO. Currently, he is Music Director of the Ann Arbor Symphony in Michigan and the Ashland Symphony in Ohio. He is a frequent guest conductor with orchestras in Europe, Israel and North America and participates in many chamber music festivals. He is also Chair of the Chamber Music Department at Chautauqua.

"This is a delightful team, with a collective personality that seems to sum up the joy of  making music with each other, which, after all, is the essence of chamber music."