The admiration for each other's musicianship and being great friends for more than fifteen years led Marja Kaisla, Ulrich Boeckheler, and Gabriel Gordon to forming Trio Excelsior! in 2003. Since they knew they shared similar musical tastes and reasons for playing music, they wanted to strengthen and expand on that experience as a Piano Trio.

Pianist, Marja Kaisla, a native of Finland, received her musical education in Finland, Switzerland, St.Petersburg Conservatory in Russia, and Philadelphia with Susan Starr. Since moving to the United States in 1987, she has enjoyed an active concert career on stage, radio, television and major motion pictures, while being an advocate for the importance of music education. She is the Director of Delaware Valley Conservatory of Music and Co-President of the Philadelphia Foundation for World Music and Arts. Miss Kaisla also performs as one of four pianists in Piano4, a unique ensemble of four pianos, with whom she'll be touring extensively around the United States during the 2005-2006 season.

German cellist, Ulrich Boeckheler, a prizewinner in the 1982 Gaspar Cassado International Cello Competition, was the principal cellist of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of Flanders in Belgium prior to moving to the United States in 1987. He has since performed at some of the best-known concert venues around the world, including festivals such as the Marlboro, Sarasota and Grand Teton Music Festivals, as well as festivals in France and Mexico. His recordings are released on the Fanfare-Mastersound, Carlton Classics and CRI labels.

Violinist and conductor, Gabriel Gordon, a native New Yorker, graduated from New York's High School of Performing Arts, and has studied with members of some of the most distinguished chamber groups in the world, the Emerson String Quartet and the Beaux Arts Trio to name two. Being one of the founding members of the DaPonte String Quartet, Mr.Gordon is also the Music Director and Conductor of numerous youth, community, and professional orchestras on the East Coast. He is an Assistant Conductor at the Manhattan School of Music, as well as the Assistant Director of Strings International Music Festival.

Although the sheer joy of conducting symphonies or playing solo repertoire would be good enough a reason to make music, Trio Excelsior! uses the rich and yet intimate piano trio repertoire to further explore their relationship to music and each other, discover the great composers as human beings and how they expressed the essence of human existence.

As their performances have been described “incredibly moving” or “brilliantly executed,” it is clear that the “intensity and grand style are always at the service of a profound musicianship,” as summarized in one review.

Their name, Excelsior!, couldn't be more fitting to their goals as musicians – “still higher.”