The album unites some of the most celebrated talents in classical music. Ilya Kaler remains the only violinist ever to win first prize at all three of the world’s most prestigious violin competitions—the Paganini, Tchaikovsky, and Sibelius—and serves as professor at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Jonathan Cohler is a world-renowned clarinet soloist, conductor, and record producer, honored with BBC Music Magazine’s Best CDs of the Year award. Lithuanian pianist Rasa Vitkauskaite is a Steinway Artist and principal pianist of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra.

Bringing decades of collaboration to Contrasts, the trio’s recent musical projects include a Mendelssohn disc featuring his Violin Concerto in E Minor and the Double Concerto. With Jonathan at the podium, the album was lauded for marking “a new legacy” and having “impeccable clarity and momentum that is electrifying.”