Classical Music Travel

Since 1999 when they first began to work together, Kai Gleusteen and Catherine Ordronneau have established themselves as one of the most important European violin and piano duos. Having performed more than 100 recitals in Europe, Canada and the USA, they are praised for their unique partnership, “playing under the control of a single intelligence”, and for the emotional power of their interpretations.

Recent projects include touring the USA in performance with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, recitals in both Chicago and San Francisco and a gala concert in the prestigious Hôtel de Ville of Paris. Their repertoire encompasses most of the great sonatas for violin and piano, as well as a myriad of short pieces representing the countries where they perform. They have recorded extensively on the AVIE label.

Kai Gleusteen and Catherine Ordronneau have hosted and travelled on numerous tours with Special Travel International, including our Classical Music Cruise in the Rhone Valley in 2016, our Vietnam, Cambodia and the Riches of the Mekong in 2017 and our Classical Music Cruises on the Danube in 2015 and 2018.

Steinway Artist and critically acclaimed Canadian pianist, Lorraine Min has dazzled audiences with her poetic artistry and dynamic virtuosity. Cited by the New York Times for her “impeccable phrase-shaping (and) crystalline sound,” and by the Washington Post for her “admirable playing,” Min has performed extensively throughout Canada and the U.S., in Germany, France, Mexico, the UK, Italy, Switzerland, Australia, India, and in South America. She has appeared as concerto soloist and in recital on some of the world’s most important concert stages including New York’s David Geffen (formerly Avery Fisher) Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Town Hall, Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, the Kennedy Center’s Concert Hall, Vancouver’s Orpheum Theatre and Chan Centre, and Teatro Politeamo in Palermo, Sicily, among others.

The duo pianists Elizabeth and Marcel Bergmann are truly a team – husband and wife, and also partners in Canada’s leading four-hand piano ensemble. They have been performing together for almost 30 years and have recorded for Naxos, Brilliant Classics and most recently for ARS. They have concertized in theatres from Carnegie Hall and Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw to the community hall on tiny Denman Island.

Their extensive repertoire ranges from the baroque to the contemporary and incorporates numerous own arrangements and compositions. They recently premiered Marcel’s latest work, Concerto for Piano, Four Hands and Chamber Orchestra, which was commissioned by White Rock Concerts in celebration of Canada’s 150th anniversary.

Re-creating a lost piano world of the past century, the Bergmann's now tour regularly with their two grand pianos in tow. Overseas, their recitals have taken them to France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Macedonia, Spain and Portugal. At home in Canada, they have recently been named co-Artistic Directors of the immensely successful White Rock Concerts.

Marcel and Elizabeth Bergmann dazzled audiences with their four-hand virtuosity and accompanied Julie Nesrallah on our Classical Music Cruise on the Douro in Portugal and Spain in 2017. We look forward to their next tour with STI!

For over 25 years, the Gryphon Trio has firmly established itself as one of the world’s preeminent piano trios, garnering acclaim and impressing international audiences with its highly refined, dynamic and memorable performances. With a repertoire that ranges from traditional to contemporary and from European classicism to modern-day multimedia, the Gryphons are committed to redefining chamber music for the 21st century.

Creative innovators with an appetite for discovery and new directions, the Gryphon Trio has commissioned over 85 new works and frequently collaborates on projects that push the boundaries of classical music. The trio tours regularly throughout North America and Europe, and their 23 recordings are an encyclopedia of works for the genre. Honours include three Juno Awards for Classical Album of the Year and the prestigious 2013 Walter Carsen Prize for Excellence in the Performing Arts from the Canada Council for the Arts.

Deeply committed to community engagement and education, the Gryphons conduct master classes and workshops at universities and conservatories and are artists-in-residence at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music and Trinity College. Since 2010, the trio’s ground-breaking outreach program, Listen Up!, has inspired and engaged 16 Canadian communities to collaborate on large-scale multi-faceted arts creation projects.

The Gryphon Trio has had a long association with Ottawa Chamberfest, one of the world’s largest chamber music festivals. Cellist Roman Borys served as Artistic and Executive Director from 2007 to 2020 while Ms. Patipatanakoon and Dr. Parker served as Artistic Advisors.

In memory of the legendary bassoon soloist, impresario, Artistic Director of White Rock Concerts and celebrated broadcaster and raconteur, George Zukerman, O.C., O.B.C. ended his 62-year international performing career in 2012.

During his playing career, George Zukerman was acknowledged world-wide as “the High Priest of the bassoon”, fashioning a remarkable international solo career on this unlikely instrument. He has performed from Rome to Tahiti, Hong Kong to Afghanistan, China to South Africa, Australia and New Zealand in the course of 40 world tours.

Over the course of his career, he made it his mission to unearth hundreds of previously unknown works for the instrument and to commission new ones. George Zukerman was awarded the Order of Canada and the Order of British Columbia for his contributions to touring both at home and abroad.

George Zukerman has been behind many of Special Travel International’s Classical Music Tours. Through his world-wide contacts as impresario, he has arranged and coordinated most of the concerts on board our cruise ships and carefully selected opera and symphonic events to attend during our Classical Music Cruise in the Rhone Valley in 2016, our Classical Music Cruises on the Danube in 2015 and 2018 and on the Rhine in 2019. While on our tours, George Zukerman prefaces all musical events with his unique stories of a musical life which began with early contact with such luminaries as Leonard Bernstein, Paul Hindemith, Salvatore Accardo, Isaac Stern, Janos Starker, Benjamin Britten and Dmitri Shostakovich.