The use of cameras or recording equipment during the

performance is not allowed. Please be sure that cell phones,

pagers, and other electronic devices are turned off.

Music Department

National Gallery ofArt

Sixth Street and Constitution Avenue nw

Washington, DC

www.nga.gov

COVER: Paul Stevenson Oles, Sketch ofthe East Building Exterior, 1971,

National Gallery ofArt Archives, Gift of I.M. Pei and Partners

The Seventieth Season of

The William Nelson Cromwell and F. Lammot Belin

Concerts

National Gallery ofArt

2,864th Concert

Menahem Pressler, pianist

December 16, 2011

Friday, 12:10 pm 

East Building Auditorium

Admissionfree
Program

“Beethoven and Birthdays”

A Colloquium

Music to include

Ludwig van Beethoven (December 16,1770-March 26,1827)

Sonata in A-jlat Major, op. 110 (1821-1822)

The Musician

A founding member and the pianist ofthe Beaux Arts Trio for all ofits

fifty-one years, Menahem Pressler ranks among the world’s most distinguished and honored musicians, with a career that spans more than six

decades. Having played his National Gallery ofArt debut in 1953, he became

a familiar figure for the next three generations ofWashington, DC, concert

audiences, thanks to the Beaux Arts Trio’s regular appearances at the Library 

ofCongress and Pressler’s return engagements at the Gallery in 1991, 2000,

2005, and 2009. Outstanding both as a chamber musician and a solo

performer, Pressler has been heard in all ofthe world’s major venues, and

the Gallery is pleased and proud to welcome him back for the fifth time on

the occasion ofhis eighty-eighth birthday.

Born in Magdeburg, Germany, on December 16,1923, Menahem Pressler

and his family escaped Nazi Germay and immigrated to Israel in 1939, where

the young pianist received most ofhis musical training. His career was

launched when he won first prize at the Debussy International Piano Competition in San Francisco in 1946. This was followed by his successful American

debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra, under the baton of Eugene Ormandy, 

and appearances with the New York Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra,

and the Chicago, Pittsburgh, London, National, and Paris symphony orchestras. In 1955 Pressler cofounded the Beaux Arts Trio with violinist Daniel 

Guillet and cellist Bernard Greenhouse. Considered one ofthe most enduring

and widely acclaimed chamber music ensembles in history, the Beaux Arts 

has been credited with giving rise to the present-day popularity ofthe piano

trio repertoire. In 1994 Pressler was honored with Chamber Music America’s

Distinguished Service Award, and in 1998 he received the prestigious Gramophone Lifetime Achievement Award. Elected to the American Academy 

ofArts and Sciences in 2000, he has received England’s Record ofthe Year

Award, four Grammy nominations, France’s Commander ofArts and Letters,

Germany’s Federal Cross ofMerit, and the German Recording Award. Earlier 

this year he was honored by International Classical Music Awards with their

Lifetime Achievement Award.

In addition to his collaboration with the Beaux Arts Trio, which resulted

in more than fifty recordings, Pressler has worked with the American,

Cleveland, Emerson, Guarneri, Juilliard, and Pacifica string quartets and

has made more than thirty piano solo recordings.

His incredible experience with piano and chamber music literature and

his wisdom in the area ofinterpretation have earned him an international

reputation as a teacher. When not on tour or teaching master classes, he

can be found in his studio at Indiana University in Bloomington, where he

holds the rank of distinguished professor.

Menahem Pressler appears at the National Gallery by arrangement with

Melvin Kaplan, Inc., www.melkap.com

Next week at the National Gallery ofArt

Thomas Fallon, countertenor

“A Countertenor Christmas”

Music by Adam, J. S. Bach, Corelli, and other composers

December 18, 2011

Sunday, 6:30 pm

West Building, West Garden Court

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