Programme:
Mozart: Piano Trio in C K548
Ireland: Phantasie (Piano Trio no.1) in A Minor
Shostakovich: Piano Trio no.1
Interval
Brahms: Piano Trio no.2 in C Op.87
We are delighted to welcome back the Aquinas Piano Trio for our final concert in our 2024/25 season. Ruth Rogers (violin), Katherine Jenkinson (cello) and Martin Cousin (piano) are firm favourites with the Medical Music Society of London and Royal Over-Seas League audiences.
Described by Gramophone as, ‘spot-on in interpretative instinct’, the Aquinas Piano Trio has established itself as one of Britain’s most sought-after chamber groups. Following their Wigmore Hall debut in December 2015, Musical Opinion commented, ‘This sold out concert hall was in awe, ecstatic with joy at the final cadence.’
The Trio’s list of recordings includes the Saint-Saens Trios, released on Guild in 2015, and their CD of Mendelssohn Trios was The Strad magazine’s Choice of the Month in May 2015: ‘The Aquinas Trio rejoices in these cherishable scores with a symphonic sweep and an insatiable forward momentum … This is an enormously impressive coupling.’
The Aquinas Piano Trio released 3 discs of Haydn Trios on Naxos between 2022-23, all to universal acclaim, with The Strad remarking ‘The Aquinas Trio brings flawless ensemble and a lively intelligence to these relatively neglected pre-1770 works’ and Fanfare stating ‘I have never enjoyed Haydn Trios as much as in these performances. Aquinas’s easy-going spirit is captivating.’
The Trio’s past engagements include a Schumann Series at Kings Place, London and performances at the Little Missenden Festival, the Chipping Campden International Music Festival, the Menton Festival in France and the Kirker Chopin Festival in Mallorca. Their continuing support of contemporary music saw premieres of new works by Thomas Hyde and Rob Keeley during the 2016/17 season, with a Naxos release of Rob Keeley’s Piano Trio No.2 in 2019, Lawrie Rose’s Piano Trio for Stone Records in 2022, alongside Smetana and Rachmaninov Trios and Michael Stimpson’s complete works for Piano Trio in 2023.
Highlights of the 23/24 season included a return to Chipping Campden Music Festival and a recital for Sherborne Abbey Festival.
The Trio will perform a series of 5 recitals between 2022-26 at Wigmore Hall.