Vaunted Amelia Piano Trio Returns To The Stage In New Formation

Founding Members Violinist Anthea Kreston & Cellist Jason Duckles Now Joined by Pianist Ilya Yakushev

 

The Amelia Piano Trio, for many years one of the most sought-after piano trios in the world, has announced it will be returning to the concert stage. After a ten-year hiatus, violinist Anthea Kreston and cellist Jason Duckles have invited celebrated pianist Ilya Yakushev to join them in embarking on this new chapter. It is remarkable that an ensemble, once disbanded, has chosen to perform together again.

 

Mentored by Isaac Stern, who presented the ensemble’s Carnegie Hall début in Stern Hall, the Amelia Piano Trio was also coached by the Emerson Quartet. They went on to perform on many prestigious concert series and festivals in the United States, including Carnegie’s Weill Hall, the 92nd Street Y and Miller Theater (NYC); the Library of Congress and Dumbarton Concerts (Washington, D.C.); the Curtis Institute's Alumni Series; the Ravinia and La Jolla Music Festivals; and Caramoor, which commissioned a new work for them by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer John Harbison. The trio also appeared at prestigious concert halls in Canada, Germany, Belgium and the UK, as well as in Panama and the French West Indies.

 

Early on in their career, the Amelia Piano Trio won both the Grand Prize in the Chamber Music Yellow Springs Competition and the ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming. Yo-Yo Ma invited them to perform at Tanglewood with his Silk Road Project; founding members Ms. Kreston and Dr. Duckles continued to tour with Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Project from Las Vegas to as far afield as Kazakhstan.

 

The ensemble received numerous critical notices. The New York Times declared: “[the Amelia Piano Trio] exuded a real sense of command.” Their performances were called “big, bold, direct and unselfconscious” by the Washington Post and “daring, lively, and completely engrossing” by the Seattle Times. The San Diego Reader wrote, "you just don't hear better chamber music playing than this."

  

When violinist Anthea Kreston was invited in 2016 to join Germany’s renowned Artemis Quartet, the Amelia Piano Trio elected to take a hiatus, enabling her to become the only American violinist to hold a full-time position with a major European quartet.

 

Now, a decade later, Ms. Kreston and Dr. Duckles have decided to mark that milestone by bringing the trio back to the concert stage and inviting pianist Ilya Yakushev to join them.

 

The Amelia Piano Trio is now under the management of Lisa Sapinkopf Artists; both are delighted to embark on this exciting new chapter in the trio's storied trajectory.

 

Anthea Kreston, violin

 

"Anthea Kreston . . . a soloist of the Heifetz - Shaham - Vengerov caliber, whose musical instincts could make even a mere bagatelle thrill the soul and stir the senses to a frenzy." —San Diego Reader

 

As a member of Germany’s distinguished Artemis Quartet, Anthea Kreston performed on some of the most important stages, from Carnegie Hall to London’s Wigmore Hall and Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw to the LG Arts Center in Seoul, South Korea. Ms. Kreston served as Professor at the Universität der Künste Berlin, where Clara Schumann and Schoenberg taught; a Master Teacher at the Queen Elizabeth Chapel in Brussels; and has enjoyed returning to teach and perform at the Curtis Institute of Music, her alma mater. 

 

An avid author, Ms. Kreston has a passionate international following for her writings, from her articles on the London-based Slipped Disc (the world's most widely read music news website), to her top-five most-read blog. Her new book, Crescendo, is a personal reflection on music, ambition, and the choices that compose a life. She has written for many music publications, including Strings and Chamber Music Magazine, and been featured in The New York Times and on NPR. She was just named All Classical Radio's Artist-in-Residence.

 

Her release with the Artemis Quartet on Warner Classics received both the Echo Award and the Diapason d’Or, France’s highest award from music critics. She hosted a podcast from Boulez Hall in the heart of Berlin and has performed in the Berlin Philharmonic and as concertmaster of the Deutsche Oper Berlin. 

 

Her teachers include Ida Kavafian, Shmuel Ashkenasi, the Emerson Quartet, and Isaac Stern.

 

Jason Duckles, cello

 

“The Adagio belonged entirely to Jason Duckles, who explored in dreamlike, beautiful phrases the movement's wistful themes.” —Hessische Allgemeine (Germany)

 

Jason Duckles, a native of Vancouver, Canada, is a founding member of the Amelia Piano Trio. As a member of the Humboldt Streichtrio with Volker Jacobsen and Anthea Kreston (both formerly Artemis Quartet members), he performed in the inaugural week of Hamburg's famed Elbphilharmonie Hall. He received top prizes in both the Concert Artists Guild and the Munich ARD International Competitions.

 

Dr. Duckles made his solo début at the age of seventeen with the Oregon Symphony, and was soloist with the Brooklyn Symphony, Astoria Symphony, and Caltech University Orchestra. He toured internationally with the Berlin Konzerthaus Orchestra, was the solo cellist with the renowned Mark Morris Dance Group, and collaborated with such acclaimed artists as Ida Kavafian, Eugenia Zukerman and Gilbert Kalish, and members of the Beaux Arts Trio and the Emerson, Guarneri, Artemis, Cleveland and Orion String Quartets.

 

A passionate educator, he directed Wesleyan University's Chamber Music program and was the conductor of the Connecticut College and Willamette University orchestras.

 

Dr. Duckles received his bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University and his Masters and Doctorate from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He has recorded for the Sony, Channel Classics, Naxos, and Cedille labels. 

 

Ilya Yakushev, piano

 

"ONE OF THE TOP 10 CLASSICAL MUSIC EVENTS OF THE YEAR. An astounding triple debut as part of the [San Francisco] Symphony's Prokofiev Festival, playing the First Concerto, the Fourth Concerto and the Seventh Sonata with vigor and virtuosity.” —San Francisco Chronicle

 

Pianist Ilya Yakushev has performed in the world’s most prestigious venues worldwide, including Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall (NYC), Davies Symphony Hall (San Francisco), Sejong Performing Arts Center (Seoul, South Korea), Great Philharmonic Hall (St. Petersburg), and Victoria Hall (Singapore). He toured the United States as soloist with the BBC Concert Orchestra, and has performed concerts with the San Francisco Symphony, Boston Pops, Rochester Philharmonic, Utah Symphony, and many other orchestras.

 

In 2025-26, dozens of engagements brought Mr. Yakushev from New York City to the West Coast and beyond for recitals, concertos, and chamber music. He has performed with members of the renowned St. Lawrence String Quartet, and enjoys an active partnership with cellist Tommy Mesa, winner of the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Prize. 

 

Winner of the 2005 World Piano Competition in Cincinnati, Ohio, Mr. Yakushev received his first award at age 12 as a prizewinner of the Young Artists Concerto Competition in his native St. Petersburg. In 1997, he received the Mayor of St. Petersburg’s Young Talents award, and in both 1997 and 1998 he won First Prize at the Donostia Hiria International Piano Competition in San Sebastián, Spain. Mr. Yakushev was a recipient of the prestigious Gawon International Music Society Award in Seoul, Korea.

 

He studied at the Mannes College of Music in New York City with legendary pianist Vladimir Feltsman. 

 

Amelia Piano Trio Performance Video

 

Amelia Piano Trio

 

Lisa Sapinkopf Artists

 

For further information, please contact Hemsing Associates at 212-772-1132 or visit www.hemsingpr.com.

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