Itamar Zorman, violin | Liza Stepanova, piano | Michael Katz, cello

The Lysander Piano Trio has been praised by The Strad for its “incredible ensemble, passionate playing, articulate and imaginative ideas and wide palette of colors” and by The Washington Post for “an uncommon degree of heart-on-the-sleeve emotional frankness” and “vivid engagement carried by soaring, ripely Romantic playing.” The Trio’s debut recording After A Dream (CAG Records) was acclaimed by The New York Times for its “polished and spirited interpretations.” The Lysander Trio is devoted to inventive programming, finding intriguing connections between works from all over the world, and uncovering lesser-known gems of the repertoire from the past to the present.

Highlights of the 2024-25 season include performances at the Asheville Chamber Music Series, Bender JCC of Greater Washington, Chamber Music Society of Central Kentucky, Chamber Music Society of Utica, Cosmos Club, Valley Classical Concerts, Westchester Chamber Music Society, Music Mountain, Hunter International Music Festival, Nantucket Musical Arts Society, and other notable series in Chattanooga, Palm Beach, and the Greater Boston area. In the 2023-24 season, the Trio gave debuts at Parlance Chamber Concerts, Feldman Chamber Music Society, Chamber Music Society of Williamsburg, Northeast Kingdom Classical Series, Blue Hill Concert Association, University of Idaho's Auditorium Chamber Music Series, Nelson Overture Concerts Society, and Kelowna Chamber Concert Association in Canada. In the spring of 2023, the Lysander "brought the house down" (Dumbarton Concerts) with its new tango-infused collaboration with Argentine bandoneonist and composer JP Jofre and looks forward to continuing the collaboration in upcoming seasons.

The Lysander Piano Trio has spent over a decade performing around the US with appearances at notable venues such as the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater, Los Angeles’ Da Camera Society, Atlanta’s Spivey Hall, San Francisco’s Music at Kohl Mansion, Palm Beach's Kravis Center and Norton Museum of Art, Chamber Music Raleigh, Concerts International Memphis, Sanibel Music Festival, Florida Keys Concert Association, Chamber Music Tulsa, Juneau Jazz and Classics, and notable college venues including Middlebury College, Clemson University, Lee University’s Presidential Concert Series, Purdue University’s Convocations Series, and University of Illinois’ Krannert Center. Summer and festival appearances include the Bard Music Festival, Cooperstown Summer Music Festival, Copenhagen Summer Festival, The Chautauqua Institution, Princeton University Summer Chamber Concerts, and a critically acclaimed recital at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. The Lysander Trio also performed abroad in recent seasons, notably at Calgary Pro Musica in Canada, Pro Musica San Miguel de Allende in Mexico, and a tour of Israel. Orchestral engagements include Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with the DuPage Symphony Orchestra, University of Wyoming Symphony Orchestra and Greenwich Village Orchestra in New York City.

The Trio has a long-standing commitment to working with living composers and building a new repertoire for the piano trio. The Lysander Trio's latest commission, Nostos by Udi Perlman, was premiered in 2024 and has been received enthusiastically by audiences across the US. Following a recent performance of Nostos at Music Mountain, The Millbrook Independent proclaimed: "That melody has been ringing in my ears over the past twenty-four hours; it provided a delightful conclusion, and I wished to hear the work once more!" The ensemble’s commissions also include Gilad Cohen’s Around the Cauldron (2017), co-commissioned by Concert Artists Guild and premiered at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall; Ghostwritten Variations, by Venezuelan-American composer Reinaldo Moya; Jakub Ciupinski’s The Black Mirror; and Four Movements Inspired by “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” penned by four pre-teen composers of ComposerCraft from NYC’s Kaufman Music Center and premiered at Merkin Concert Hall in 2014. Lysander members also premiered Jennifer Higdon’s Love Sweet for soprano and piano trio, which received its world-premiere recording together with acclaimed soprano Sarah Shafer on the group’s 2021 release, Mirrors. Beyond its praise from Musical America for being “strikingly inventive…meticulous” and from The Strad for its “evocative moments,” Gramophone celebrated Mirrors by noting that “all six of this release’s compositions benefit from the Lysander Trio’s finely honed ensemble values and well-characterised solo contributions.”

The Lysander Piano Trio, whose name is inspired by the character in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, was formed at The Juilliard School. The Trio studied with Ronald Copes of the Juilliard String Quartet, the late Joseph Kalichstein, and Seymour Lipkin. Early in their career, Lysander became a standout at competitions, with top honors at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, the Coleman Chamber Ensemble Competition (Grand Prize), the J. C. Arriaga Chamber Music Competition (First Prize), and the Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition.