The Drake Fine Arts Trio is a premiere piano trio based in Des Moines, Iowa on the artist-faculty of Drake University. It programs a varied mixture of solo, duo and trio literature. While the trio members are heralded soloists and appear regularly in recital and concerto performances, they are also accomplished chamber musicians, who complete their artistic lives performing small ensemble masterpieces. Indeed, Homer Ulrich of Chamber Music America referred to this phenomenon when he said, "The professional musician turns to chamber music for relaxation and for a kind of pleasure that no other field offers." The Drake Fine Arts Trio projects that pleasure in its performances, evoking the same love for the music among its audiences.

Ashley Sandor Sidon, cellist. Ashley Sidon, DMA is the cellist of the Drake Trio and can be contacted through this website or through the Drake University Music Department website. Please select Biography to read about Dr. Sidon's professional background.

Sarah Plum. After a distinguished career as a performer, violinist Sarah Plum has been appointed Assistant Professor of Violin and Viola at the Drake University department of music. Since winning the first prize in the International Stulberg Competition in 1984 she has appeared on stages in the US and abroad as a soloist and chamber musician. Additionally, she has played in European orchestras both as a leading and section player. She is a graduate of the Juilliard School where she received a Bachelor's and Master's degree and the State University of New York at Stony Brook, where she received a DMA. Her major teachers were Szymon Goldberg, Joyce Robbins, Dorothy Delay and David Cerone.

Soon after receiving her DMA she moved to Europe, where she played in the West German Radio Symphony Orchestra (WDR) Cologne as well as the North German Radio Orchestra (NDR) and Saarlaendischer Rundfunk Symphony Orchestra among others. With these orchestras she played under conductors such as Semyon Bychkov, Andre Previn, Christoph Eschenbach, Kurt Masur and Mariss Jansons; took part in tours of Europe, North and South America and performed at international venues and festivals. Her orchestral experiences also included principal and concertmaster positions in the London Philharmonic, Saarlaendisches Staatstheater, Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra and the Kammerorchester Pforzheim.

As a modern music specialist she played at festivals such as Archipel, Ars Musica, the Luzern Festival and the Festival d'Automne Paris and with groups such as the Ensemble Moderne, Musik Fabrik Nord Rhein Westfalen, Nieuw Ensemble Amsterdam and Ensemble Contrechamps. As well as extensive touring and recording she premiered numerous pieces by composers such as Brian Ferneyhough, Salvatore Sciarrino, Emmanuel Nunes, and Toshio Hosakawa. Noted solo performances include the world premiere of Sidney Corbett's Archipel at the Landesuseum Mainz as well as recitals in Berlin and Paris.

Sarah has been heard in numerous TV and Radio Broadcasts on the WDR, NDR, Deutsche Welle and BBC. She has recorded on the Bridge, BMG, Arte Nova and Cappriccio labels.

Nicholas Roth. Hailed by the Indianapolis News as "a world of talent, displaying lyrical beauty, percussive driving power never out of control, and never without security and assurance," pianist Nicholas Roth began his formal studies at age twelve, and was receiving critical acclaim for his appearances by the age of eighteen. He has appeared as soloist with the St. Louis Symphony and the Indianapolis Symphony under Raymond Leppard, among many others. Roth has been featured in recital series and festivals throughout the United States, Germany, and Spain, including the prestigious Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts Series of Chicago, the Irving S. Gilmore International Keyboard Festival, the Kalamazoo Bach Festival, and Sunday Afternoons Live from the Elvehjem in Madison, Wisconsin.

Roth was a 1993 Beethoven Fellow of the American Pianists Association, which provided him concert management for three years. He has won first prizes in the Young Keyboard Artists Association International and Grace Welsh International Piano Competitions, as well as the chamber music competitions of Tortona and Pietra Ligure, Italy. He was also the recipient of a Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst (DAAD) grant that enabled him to further his studies in Germany. In 1988, he was honored by the House of Representatives of the General Assembly of the State of Indiana for his "contribution to the performing arts, his accomplishments as a concert pianist, and his inspiration to young musicians."

Roth holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Michigan State University, an Artist Diploma from the Hochschule fr Musik in Munich, and M.M. and B.M. degrees from Indiana University, where he was the recipient of the School of Music's highest honors including the Performer's Certificate and the Joseph Battista Memorial Scholarship. His teachers include Ralph Votapek, Elisso Virsaladze, Helmut Deutsch, Edward Auer, Emilio del Rosario, and Michel Block.

Roth is a piano professor at Drake University and was previously on the faculty of the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point and Alma College. His recordings are available from Blue Griffin Recording.