In November of 1975, the newly-formed Raphael Trio made “a most auspicious debut” (The New York Times) at Carnegie Hall as winners of the Concert Artists Guild Award. They have since been presented regularly in the leading concert halls of the United States and Europe, appearing in London, Geneva, Paris, Frankfurt, Vienna, Washington DC, San Francisco, Denver, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Chicago, Boston and New York.
In celebration of their 25th Anniversary, they performed the complete Beethoven trios in cycles in Washington DC (Phillips Collection), Vermont (Marlboro College), and in gala appearances in New York at the Kosciusko Foundation. These performances were broadcast by WNYC and Performance Today, NPR’s live broadcast concert series.
The Washington Post says “These gifted musicians play with an almost palpable intensity. They launched into a detailed and emotionally gripping performance that allowed all to triumph both individually and collectively.”
This concert celebrates the donation of a Steinway baby grand piano to Ner Shalom by David Salm, the brother of Susan Salm of the Raphael Trio. The piano belonged to their mother Erna, a concert pianist in Germany. When the Nazis came to power, she shipped her pianos to the Netherlands. When she resettled in Chicago, she sent for them, using them to teach music in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood and to hold monthly house concerts. This piano is one of these refugees.
The trio’s pianist, Daniel Epstein, has played the Salm piano many times, and will again perform using the piano at the March 24 concert.
A Raphael Trio performance can be seen here: