Description
Beethoven: Piano Trio in E flat Major Op. 1 No. 1
Bernstein: Piano Trio (1937)
Ravel: Piano Trio in A Minor (1914)
Described as 'superb' and 'sensational', the Trio Lalique was founded in 2022 by pianist Ilya Kondratiev, violinist Yuri Kalnits and cellist Julia Morneweg, each already a renowned chamber musician in their own right. Their debut as a group in the prestigious Pharos Arts Foundation series in Nicosia (Cyprus) was praised for its virtuosity and musical artistry alike. Between them, they have performed as soloists and chamber musicians at many of the world’s greatest concert halls, including London’s Southbank Centre, King’s Place, Zurich Tonhalle, Munich’s Gasteig, Suntory Hall and the Great Hall of Moscow Conservatoire, as well as at major festivals.
Outside of their work as a trio, Ilya, Yuri and Julia also collaborate in larger chamber music formations as part of the acclaimed London ensemble ChamberMusicBox.
Yuri Kalnits
A recipient of two prestigious Diapason d’Or awards for his recording of Weinberg’s Violin Sonatas Yuri Kalnits was described by reviewers as ‘an interpreter of the highest order’.
He has participated in festivals throughout the world such as Festival Musicales Internationales Guil-Durance (France), Young Artist Peninsula Music Festival (USA), Festival Cziffra (France), Waterford International Music Festival (Ireland), Irina Kandinskaya and Friends (Russia), Pharos Trust Festival (Cyprus), Festival “Musica da Camera” (Germany), Festival International Ciudad de Ubeda (Spain), Beyond the music Festival (Spain), Loch Shiel Spring Festival (Scotland), Ljubljana International Festival and has played at many important venues including The Purcell Room, Kings Place, St. John’s Smith Square, Barbican, St. Martin-in the-Fields, Small Hall of Moscow Conservatoire, Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center and Suntory Hall.
Tours have taken him to Russia, Ireland, Germany, Israel, France, Switzerland, Spain, Greece, USA, Hong Kong and Cyprus.
As a concerto soloist he has appeared with the London Festival Orchestra, Mozart Festival Orchestra, Arpeggione Chamber Orchestra, London Soloist Chamber Orchestra, Novosibirsk Symphony Orchestra, Kazan Chamber Orchestra “La Primavera”, London Musical Arts Ensemble, Minsk Symphony Orchestra and the New Philharmonia Koln to name a few and his playing has been broadcast on BBC Radio 3, New Zealand national radio and ABC Radio Australia. A dedicated chamber musician, Yuri has worked among others with such artists as Ivry Gitlis, Eduard Brunner, Emanuel Abbühl and Alexander Chaushian. Together with cellist Julia Morneweg Yuri also co-directs the London concert series ChamberMusicBox which brings together leading British and European artists.
Born in Moscow into a musical family, he received his first violin lessons from his father and went on to become a pupil at Moscow’s Central Music School and later at the Gnessin Music School for Gifted Children. At the age of 16 he began studying at the Royal College of Music (London) with Professor Itzhak Rashkovsky, winning several major College prizes, including the Foundation Scholarship, W.H. Reed, Isolde Menges prizes and Leonard Hirsch Prize for the outstanding string player of the year. He went on to win major prizes, notably the Bromsgrove and Watford Music Festivals in England, the Yehudi Menuhin Award from the Sudborough Foundation, KPMG/Martin Musical Scholarship (UK), Cziffra Foundation competition (France), Web Concert Hall Competition (USA), Barthel Prize from the Concordia Foundation.
Upon graduation from the RCM Yuri was awarded the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Scholarship for postgraduate studies there. He completed his training with Yfrah Neaman at the Guildhall School of Music and Vasko Vassiliev at Trinity College of Music whilst receiving further artistic guidance from eminent musicians such as Shlomo Mintz, Abram Shtern, Igor Oistrakh, Edward Grach, Sergei Fatkulline, Sylvia Rosenberg and Valentin Berlinsky.
Julia Morneweg
London-based cellist Julia Morneweg enjoys an exciting career as a soloist, chamber musician and artistic curator that regularly sees her perform at prestigious venues and alongside distinguished artists.
The recipient of an EMI Music Foundation Award, she made her London concerto debut in 2006 performing the Elgar Concerto at St John's Smith Square which immediately led to further engagements including a performance of Haydn's C major Concerto with the International Mahler Orchestra at the same venue and Elgar with the Ternopol Philharmonic Orchestra in Ukraine.
Other concerto performances have included Lalo in London and Vivaldi in Cologne. As a recitalist she has appeared around the UK, Belgium, Italy, Germany and at venues such as the Purcell Room, Oxford's Holywell Music Rooms, Trieste Opera House, Conway Hall, St. Martin in the Fields, the National Gallery, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Charterhouse Festival and the Tacoma International Music Festival, USA. Most recent festival appearances have included the Chichester, Leamington, Lower Machen, Uckfield and Shipley Arts Festivals. Julia has collaborated with many renowned artists including Shlomo Mintz, Roger Vignoles, Vadim Tsibulevsky, Anna Kandinskaya, Mikhail Bereznitsky, Madeleine Mitchell, Roger Chase, Emanuel Abbühl, Joan Enric Lluna, Kathron Sturrock, and Oleg Poliansky to name a few.
A passionate chamber musician, Julia spent eleven years performing as the cellist of the Erato Piano Trio. After winning the 2006 Anglo-Czech Trust Competition, the Trio performed at many important venues across the UK, mainland Europe and Asia such as the Purcell Room, Martinu Hall Prague, Zurich's famous Tonhalle, Daning Theatre Shanghai, St. David's Hall Cardiff, and for the prestigious Pharos Trust series in Nicosia, Cyprus.Their recording of chamber works by David Braid was released on the Toccata Classics label in 2012. Julia's other chamber music engagements have included tours to Croatia and Italy with the acclaimed British ensemble Fibonacci Sequence and chamber music recitals in Singapore and Montenegro.
Since 2016, together with violinist Yuri Kalnits, Julia has been joint Artistic Director of 'ChamberMusicBox', a chamber music collective that brings together distinguished artists from the UK and across Europe to perform hugely diverse programmes in formations from duo to small chamber orchestra.
As an orchestral player, Julia has been a guest with distinguished orchestras including the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestra of La Scala Milan, Northern Sinfonia, London Mozart Players, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, London Contemporary Orchestra and has played guest principal and co-principal cello with Northern Ballet Sinfonia and the London Concert Orchestra.
Alongside her performing career, Julia has earned a reputation as an exceptionally gifted and sought-after teacher. As well as teaching in London, she is regularly asked to give masterclasses and workshops internationally, with recent invitations to Cyprus and Slovenia.
Julia was taught by Raphael Wallfisch and Klaus Heitz at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hannover before completing her degree at the Royal College of Music with Leonid Gorokhov, where she also trained as a pianist. She performed in numerous masterclasses and received guidance from distinguished musicians such as Lluis Claret, Bernard Greenhouse, Alexander Ivashkin, Alexander Baillie, Salvatore Accardo and the Chilingirian Quartet.
Ilya Kondratiev
A critically acclaimed pianist, Ilya Kondratiev is the prize-winner of several renowned international music competitions, including Franz Liszt Budapest 2011, Franz Liszt Weimar 2011, the Fifth Tbilisi 2013, Brant Birmingham 2015 and Chappell Gold Medal in 2016. Born in Russia, he studied from the age of seven in Samara with the distinguished teacher Victoria Soifer and, from the age of 16, at the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory with the People’s Artist of Russia Zinaida Ignatieva. In 2014 he moved to London in order to further his studies at the Royal College of Music under Vanessa Latarche and Sofia Gulyak, graduating with a Master of Performance and an Artist Diploma.
Ilya performs extensively as a soloist and chamber music player at venues such as the Great Hall of Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, Gasteig Munich, Weimarhalle, Palacio de Festivales de Santander, the Palace of Arts in Budapest and the Great Hall of the Tbilisi Conservatoire.
In 2011 Ilya was invited to work with Elisabeth Leonskaya at the Franz Liszt Piano Academy in Schilllingfurst, Germany and with Pavel Gililov at the Eppan Piano Academy in Italy. He has performed in the masterclasses of Dina Yoffe, Konstantin Shcherbakov, Willem Brons, Dmitry Bashkirov, Jerome Rose, Leslie Howard, Lang Lang and Arie Vardi.
In 2015 and 2017 Ilya was invited to the 'Encuentro' Festival in Santander and in 2016 appeared as a guest artist in the Gumusluk Festival in Turkey, and the Beethoven Music Festival and Academy in Altaussee in Austria.
Together with his performing, Ilya is developing his teaching career and in 2019 was appointed Professor of Piano at the Royal College of Music in London.
