Amerigo Trio with Glenn Dicterow Performs at Westchester Chamber Music Society

On Sunday, November 20, 2016 at 4pm, the Westchester Chamber Music Society will present the acclaimed Amerigo Trio in a concert of Schubert, Bach, Sibelius, and Beethoven at the Congregation Emanu-El of Westchester in Rye, NY (125 Westchester Avenue East). The Amerigo Trio, made up of former New York Philharmonic Concertmaster Glenn Dicterow, violist Karen Dreyfus, and cellist Inbal Segev, formed after their successful collaboration at the Bowdoin International Chamber Music Festival in 2009, hailed as a "virtuoso performance...an extraordinary interchange of musical thought" by the Maine Sunday Telegram. The Strad has praised Amerigo's "personality, purpose and captivating energy." The Amerigo Trio's program will include Schubert's String Trio in B flat major D. 471, selected movements of Bach's Goldberg Variations for String Trio BWV 988, Sibelius' String Trio in G minor, and Beethoven's String Trio in c minor Op. 9, No. 3.

Since the group's founding in the summer of 2009, they have been invited to play at some of the most prestigious concert series in the United States, including Lorin Maazel's Castleton Festival in Virginia, The Hotchkiss School in Connecticut, the Concord Chamber Music Society in Massachusetts, Tannery Pond Concerts in the Berkshires, the New York Chamber Music Festival at Symphony Space, and Dumbarton Concerts and the Phillips Collection Concert Series, both in Washington, DC.

Of the trio's performance in Washington DC, The Washington Post raved, "Dicterow's sweet, large, tightly focused tone gave the ensemble a rock-solid leading voice. But cellist Inbal Segev matched him with her thrillingly projected, vibrato-rich playing (not to mention a beautifully judged range of color and dynamics), while Karen Dreyfus's lean and throaty viola sound provided piquant contrast. It was in its finely woven blend of timbres and rapport, though, that the trio most deeply satisfied."

The Amerigo Trio is named after Amerigo Vespucci, the Italian Explorer. The trio is committed to the exploration of the riches of the string trio repertoire, both new and old. The Amerigo released its debut recording of serenades by Dohnányi on the Navona Records label in 2011. Listen here (not for publication): http://bit.ly/AmerigoDohnanyi

About Glenn Dicterow
Glenn Dicterow, concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic for 34 years, an all-time record in that major orchestral position, became the first holder of the Robert Mann Chair in Strings and Chamber Music at the USC Thornton School of Music in 2013. He is also the Chairman of the Orchestral Performance Program at New York's Manhattan School of Music. He is as dedicated to passing along a great musical legacy as he once was to his orchestral work, while maintaining an active career as an orchestral soloist, a recitalist and a chamber musician.

Glenn Dicterow first came to prominence at the age of 11, making his solo debut in Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, where his father, Harold Dicterow, served as principal of the second violin section for 52 years. He first appeared with the New York Philharmonic in 1967, at the age of 18, performing the Tchaikovsky Concerto under the baton of André Kostelanetz. Dicterow joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic as Associate Concertmaster in 1971, becoming Concertmaster there before turning 25. He came to New York as that orchestra's Concertmaster in 1980, while soloing annually with the Philharmonic in each of his 34 years.

A graduate of the Juilliard School, where he was a student of Ivan Galamian, he also studied with Joachim Chassman, Naoum Blinder, Manuel Compinsky, Erno Neufeld, Gerald Vinci, Eudice Shapiro, Jascha Heifetz and Henryk Szeryng. His shelf of recordings is endless, as the Philharmonic's Concertmaster, in a large array of solo assignments, both of the great romantic concerti and of the 20th Century classics that he has championed, and in a wide range of chamber music. "The Glenn Dicterow Collection," a three-CD set on the New York Philharmonic label, features his performances of the concerti of Bruch, Bartok, Korngold, the Prokofiev second concerto, the Bernstein Serenade, among many highlights. For more information, visit www.glenndicterow.com.

About Karen Dreyfus
Violist Karen Dreyfus is a prize-winner, chamber musician, pedagogue and recording artist. A winner of the Naumburg and Washington International Competitions and the National Endowment for the Arts' Solo Recitalists' Award, Dreyfus concertizes throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. Her ensembles have included Musicians From Marlboro, Philomusica, Theater Chamber Players of the Kennedy Center, the New York Philharmonic and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and she has collaborated with Yehudi Menuhin in recital at Carnegie Hall, Rudolf Serkin, Alexander Schneider, Leon Fleisher and Chick Corea.

Dreyfus has recorded extensively for the Bridge and MMC labels among others. American Record Guide cites Dreyfus as "a terrific player with impeccable technique and intonation, beautiful tone, and real musicianship," while Fanfare Magazine has called her "a star...superb throughout, a real virtuoso." Dreyfus has premiered works by Ezra Laderman, ElizaBeth Brown and George Tsontakis. In 2002, she and Dicterow released William Thomas McKinley's "Concert Variations," written expressly for them.

Born into a family of musicians, Dreyfus decided to pursue a viola career under the tutelage of Leonard Mogill, Heidi Castleman and Martha Katz. A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music where she studied with Karen Tuttle and Michael Tree, she is a member of the faculties of the Juilliard, Manhattan and Mannes schools in New York. Karen Dreyfus will join the string faculty at the University of Southern California, the Thornton School of Music in 2013. For more information, visit www.karendreyfusviola.com

About Inbal Segev
Inbal Segev's playing has been described as "delivered with impressive fluency and style," by The Strad. Equally committed to new repertoire for the cello and known masterworks, Segev brings interpretations that are both unreservedly natural and insightful to the vast range of solo and chamber music that she performs.

Segev has performed as soloist with many acclaimed orchestras internationally and made debuts with the Berlin Philharmonic and Israel Philharmonic, led by Zubin Mehta, at age 17. She has commissioned new works from composers including Avner Dorman, Timo Andres, Fernando Otero, Gity Razaz, Dan Visconti and more.

Segev's discography includes Bach's Cello Suites (Vox 2015), a world premiere recording of works by Lucas Richman with the Pittsburgh Symphony (Albany 2015), Sonatas by Beethoven and Boccherini (Opus One), Nigun (Vox), and Max Schubel's Concerto for Cello (Opus One).

Inbal Segev's many honors include the America-Israel Cultural Foundation Scholarship and top prizes at the Pablo Casals, Paulo, and Washington International Competitions. She began playing the cello in Israel at age five and at 16 was invited by Isaac Stern to come to the U.S. to continue her studies. She holds degrees from The Juilliard School and Yale University.

Inbal Segev lives in New York with her husband and three children. Her cello was made by Francesco Ruggieri in 1673. For more information, visit www.inbalsegev.com.

Photo by Chris Lee