For the opening concert of the 2017-18 season, the Tryon Concert Association will present The Montrose Trio at 8 p.m., Tuesday, October 17, 2017 at the Tryon Fine Arts Center.

These three highly acclaimed musicians formed their group in 2013 at a time when the Tokyo String Quartet was disbanding. Canadian violinist Martin Beaver and British cellist Clive Greensmith had performed for over a decade with the Tokyo String Quartet and they had also performed many times with famed pianist Jon Kimura Parker. Their collaboration was a natural. The Montrose Trio has performed throughout this country and abroad and is considered one of the leading piano trios of the world.

Mr. Parker is called a true Canadian ambassador of music, having performed for Queen Elizabeth II, the U.S. Supreme Court and the prime ministers of Canada and Japan. He was featured as a speaker alongside humanitarians Eli Wiesel and Paul Rusesabagina at the 50th anniversary of the relief organization AmeriCares in commemoration of his performances in war-torn Sarajevo in 1995.

Martin Beaver, previously first violinist of the Tokyo String Quartet, is known for his technical agility, warm tone, and remarkable memory for the violin repertoire. He is an educator having taught at several outstanding schools of music in Canada and the U.S. and is now on the faculty at the Colburn School in Los Angeles.

Clive Greensmith is known as one of the most successful British cellists of his generation. As well as performing with the Tokyo String Quartet he has given concerts across the globe and has collaborated with outstanding international artists. He has had a long and distinguished teaching career and is presently co-director of chamber music and professor of cello at the Colburn School in Los Angeles.

Information about the concert series at TFAC is available through the Tryon Concert Association, P.O. Box 32, Tryon, NC 28782 or visit tryonconcerts.org.

– article submitted by Joella Utley