Eaken Trio on stage at the Arts Center on Saturday, December 15 at 8pm

The Eaken Trio will take the stage at the Randolph County Community Arts Center as the December event in the 2007-2008 Evening Concert Series. The Grammy nominated classical trio will perform their "Home for the Holidays" concert on Saturday, December 15th at 8 PM in the Great Hall of the Arts Center.

The Eaken Trio is comprised of John Eaken on violin, Gloria Whitney on piano, and Andrew Rammon on cello. The group recently marked their twentieth season of acclaimed concert appearances across the United States, Europe, China and Canada. According the Harrisburg Patriot-News,  "The trio's mastery of alternating volume from loud to soft can find you at times holding your breath, while at other times, it can take your breath away. There is buoyant and flowing quality to the trio's music-making."

The Trio has issued numerous recordings to critical praise. In 2005 they recorded Joaquin Turina's Second Piano Trio and the Ravel Piano Trio, both issued on the CD Playing with Fire (on the Eroica label). Their seasonal recordings, Home for the Holidays and I'll Be Home for the Holidays, were two of the top five best sellers nationwide for Naxos for the last five years.

Other Trio releases include enthusiastically received recordings of three American piano trios on the Naxos "American Music Series." On the CD are works by Gunther Schuller, Gerald Shipiro, and Lalo Shifrin (of "Mission Impossible" fame). Also released on the Catalpa Classics label are the two most requested works in the Trio's repertoire: The wonderful D Minor, Op. 49 Trio, by Mendelssohn, and the Anton Arensky D Minor Trio—found on the CD entitled The Romantic Trios.

The Trio has also been heralded for their Haydn Piano Trios and their Gershwin for Three CD, a collection of all-original arrangements of some of George Gershwin's greatest music. Eaken Trio CDs are available in music stores everywhere, online at Amazon.com and on their website, http://www.eakenpianotrio.com/. The Eaken Trio CDs will also be available at intermission of their Elkins debut.

The Trio is heard regularly on classical radio–including National Public Radio's All Things Considered and Performance Today. For the last eight years, the Trio's holiday radio program, I'll be Home for the Holidays, has aired on over 150 radio stations nationwide and will be heard across the country again this holiday season. This program was produced by WQED-FM in Pittsburgh and coordinated with Habitat for Humanity International.

Using their music to raise awareness for America's homeless population, The Trio is proud of their involvement in community outreach programs that have generated tens of thousands of dollars to support organizations that help the homeless and homeless animals.

In the period of 1991 through 2000, the Trio was in residence at Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA. Their programs, recognized by Chamber Music America as one of the five most successful in the nation, engage students and faculty through the venues of concerts, workshops, and an inventive curriculum which integrates chamber music into virtually every aspect of liberal arts education.

The 2007-2008 Evening Concert Series at the Randolph County Community Arts Center is locally sponsored by Family Dental Practice, Allegheny Insurance, WDNE Radio, The Intermountain Newspaper, and The Graceland Inn and Conference Center of Davis and Elkins College.  This project is partially supported by a grant from Pennsylvania Performing Arts on Tour, developed and funded by the Vira I. Heinz Endowment; the William Penn Foundation; the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency; and The Pew Charitable Trusts; and administered by Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation. and with financial assistance from the West Virginia Division of Culture and History, and the National Endowment for the Arts, with approval from the West Virginia Commission on the Arts.

As part of the Randolph County Community Arts Center’s Outreach program, performers from this Series, as well as the 2007-2008 Children’s Series, will present 15 concerts and workshops in area schools and community settings.  Last year, the RCCAC Outreach Program provided over 21 concerts and workshops, serving 2,800 people at 13 different schools and one nursing home.  The Eaken Trio will perform at Beverly Elementary School on Friday.

The RCCAC, a non-profit organization promoting and supporting the arts in Randolph County and the surrounding areas, is located at the corner of Randolph Avenue and Park Street in Elkins. Tickets for all evening concerts are $12 for adults, $10 for seniors and $5 for students. For reservations and information, call the RCCAC office at 637-2355 or log onto www.randolpharts.org.  Additional information on the performers can be found at http://www.eakenpianotrio.com/.