Ensemble Schumann

"Truly, this is exquisite music, exquisitely played and exquisitely recorded, and it is definitely recommended to all..." -Fanfare Magazine

A dazzling, colorful trio of soloists, the members of ENSEMBLE SCHUMANN – Thomas Gallant, oboe, Steve Larson, viola, and Sally Pinkas, piano, present works by their name-sake Robert Schumann, as well as by Brahms, Saint-Saëns, Loeffler, Poulenc, Shostakovich and others. Gallant, Larson and Pinkas have each performed at notable venues, including Lincoln Center, the Frick Collection and Carnegie Hall in New York City, Jordan Hall in Boston, Wigmore Hall in London, the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., and the festivals at Tanglewood, Ravinia, Lucerne, Spoleto and Mostly Mozart. Performing together since 2005, Ensemble Schumann has been featured at the prestigious Da Camera Series in Los Angeles, at the Clark Art Museum in Massachusetts and on Live From Fraser on WGBH- Radio in Boston. Recent seasons have included performances for the Stockton Friends of Music in California, Mount Vernon Museum of Art and Principia College in Illinois, Cornell College in Iowa, Auburn Chamber Music Society in Alabama, Washington University Chamber Series in St. Louis, Young Auditorium in Whitewater, Wisconsin, and Strathmore Hall in Maryland, Big Arts on Sanibel Island, The Forum in St. Thomas, and appearances in Iowa, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas and Georgia. Ensemble Schumann's recordings on the MSR Classics label have received high praise in such publications as Gramophone, Fanfare, and Audiophile Audition.

Thomas Gallant

Thomas Gallant is a First Prize Winner of the Concert Artists Guild International New York Competition and one of very few musicians ever to win the competition as an oboe soloist. His solo and chamber music performances have taken him to David Geffen Hall, Weill Recital Hall, Morgan Library and the Frick Collection in New York City, to the Library of Congress and the Phillips Collection in Washington, DC, and to the Spoleto Festival in Italy, and the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center. He has appeared as guest soloist with the Kronos Quartet at the Ravinia Festival and has collaborated with flutist Jean-Pierre Rampal, with Cuarteto Casals from Spain, the Colorado, Tesla, Calder and Lark Quartets, Cuarteto Latinoamericano and with the Adaskin String Trio. He is a member of the trio Ensemble Schumann and the Artistic Director of the chamber music group Frisson. He lives in New York City.

Steve Larson

Violist Steve Larson’s playing has been described as "supercharged, clear-headed, yet soulful" (Boston Globe). He has performed with the Adaskin String Trio since 1994, and with the oboe, viola & piano trio, Ensemble Schumann, since 2005. Larson and his wife, violinist Annie Trépanier, perform regularly together both as members of Cuatro Puntos Ensemble, whose activities have included collaborations with artists from Turkey, Afghanistan, Iraq, the UK, and India, and as part of the Mad River String Quartet which explores the legacy of American repertoire in all its fascinating and entertaining variety. Larson is a former member of the Alcan Quartet and Avery Ensemble, and has performed as a guest with groups such as the Emerson Quartet and the Lions Gate Trio. Originally from Saskatchewan, he won second prize and the special award for his performance of the commissioned work at the 1997 Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition in the UK. He is Principal Viola at the Wintergreen Festival in Virginia where he has performed and taught each July since 2007, and is a Senior Artist Teacher at The Hartt School (University of Hartford) where he has taught since 1998.

Sally Pinkas

Following her London debut at Wigmore Hall, Israeli-born pianist Sally Pinkas has garnered universal praise as soloist and chamber musician. Among highlights are performances with the Boston Pops, the Aspen Philharmonia, New York's Jupiter Symphony and Indonesia’s Bandung Symphony. Summer festival credits include Marlboro, Aspen, Rockport, Apple Hill, Pontlevoy (France), Havana (Cuba) and HCMC Conservatory (Vietnam). Pinkas tours widely as a member of the Hirsch-Pinkas Duo and Ensemble Schumann, and collaborates frequently with the Adaskin String Trio and the Apple Hill String Quartet. Praised for her radiant tone and driving energy, Pinkas' extensive discography includes music by Mozart, Schumann, Fauré, Debussy, Gaubert, Martinů, Shapiro, Pinkham and Wolff for the MSR, Centaur, Naxos, Toccata Classics and Mode labels. Pianist-in-residence at the Hopkins Center at Dartmouth College, she is Professor of Music at Dartmouth's Music Department, and summer faculty at the Apple Hill Center for Chamber Music.