Beethoven Project Trio

The Beethoven Project Trio is an American piano trio that was formed in Chicago in 2008. Its founding members are pianist George Lepauw, violinist Sang Mee Lee and cellist Wendy Warner. The first public concert given by the trio was on March 1, 2009 at Chicago’s Murphy Auditorium for the world premiere^[1][2] of a recently rediscovered piano trio by (Hess 47) Ludwig van Beethoven, as well as the American premiere of another Beethoven trio (Anhang 3) and the Chicago premiere of yet another Trio (Opus 63); the performance also included the well-known “Archduke” Trio by Beethoven. John von Rhein, music critic of the Chicago Tribune, wrote about the trio's first concert that "for musicians who had never worked together as a trio before, pianist George Lepauw, violinist Sang Mee Lee and cellist Wendy Warner made a splendid ensemble, playing with finely judged balance, evenness of sound and unanimity of style [...] Lepauw, Lee and Warner ended their program with Beethoven’s familiar “Archduke” Trio, a masterpiece that drew fully on their individual and collective abilities. The slow movement emerged with particular eloquence here."^[3]

The Beethoven Project Trio is one of the performing ensembles (along with the Beethoven Project Chamber Players) of an umbrella organization, the International Beethoven Project,^[4] which organized the trio's world premiere Beethoven performance in March 2009 and co-produced their recording along with Cedille Records.^[5] The International Beethoven Project is a not-for-profit organization headquartered in Chicago.