Saratoga Performing Arts Center to Present BEETHOVEN FOR THREE Featuring Yo-Yo Ma and More

Saratoga Performing Arts Center will present Beethoven For Three featuring Emanuel Ax, Leonidas Kavakos, and Yo-Yo Ma with special guest Antoine Tamestit on August 25 at 3 p.m. in the 500-seat Spa Little Theater. Proceeds from the performance will go toward establishing a programming fund for the Theater, SPAC’s year-round performance home.

“Seeing these artists, who are all among the best musicians in the world, is a sublime and moving experience in any format. We feel incredibly fortunate to have this unique opportunity to present ‘Beethoven For Three’ in the intimate and glorious acoustic of our Spa Little Theater,” saysElizabeth Sobol, SPAC’s President & CEO. “All tickets purchased for this special concert will support our efforts to provide year-round programming for the community in the Spa Little Theater.”   

Beethoven For Three features Emanuel Ax (piano), Leonidas Kavakos (violin), and Yo-Yo Ma (cello) in Beethoven’s Piano Trio No. 6. Joined by special guest, Antoine Tamestit (viola), the group will then perform the monumental “Eroica” Symphony No. 3 reimagined for four players, in an intimate arrangement that maintains the power and immediacy of Beethoven’s orchestral work.

The trio’s previous tours and recordings on Sony Classics have been met with rave reviews around the world. Their most recent iteration of the project received a GRAMMY® nomination for best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble performance in 2024. By performing the symphony alongside the composer’s piano trio, the artists present a wealth of insight about Beethoven and his earliest audiences. 

Beethoven For Three also presents a new opportunity for performers and listeners to examine the boundaries between musical genres, and how musicians can collaborate freely and creatively. On the collaboration and recordings, Yo-Yo Ma has said: “One of the things that has separated people since recording began is the categories that we put people in, in which chamber musicians, orchestra players, people who play concertos, people who do transcriptions, people who compose, people who conduct, are all viewed as separate categories with no overlap. That siloed thinking discourages actual creativity and collaboration between people. And so we feel that one of the things that is really important to do today is to actually go back to the first principles of music, the simple interaction between friends who want to do something together.”

Since reopening in the fall of 2022, SPAC has presented year-round programming in the Spa Little Theater, bringing the best in music, theater and dance to the region and welcoming artists from around the world. The theater has also served as a hub for SPAC’s ever-expanding education programming and the SPAC School of the Arts, providing a space for children and adults from across the Capital Region the opportunity to experience the power of the arts first-hand.  

Tickets to Beethoven For Three will be available beginning on April 22 at 10 a.m. for members (tiered by level) and on April 25 at 10 a.m. for the general public. Visit spac.org for details.