Malvern Concert Club – Trio Apaches

115th Season 2017-18

Matthew Trusler violin

Thomas Carroll cello

Ashley Wass piano

Saint-Saëns Piano Trio No.1 in F, Op.18

Sally Beamish Piano Trio WORLD PREMIERE of a MALVERN CONCERT CLUB COMMISSION

Brahms Piano Trio No.1 in B, Op.8 (1889 version)

Trio Apaches, comprising three of the UK’s most respected instrumental soloists, was formed in 2012 as the consequence of a shared desire to focus on innovative projects and challenging cross-genre collaborations, as well as to present masterworks of the trio repertoire in unfamiliar contexts. (Apaches means ‘ruffians’, the name adopted by a group of ‘artistic outcasts’, including Ravel and Stravinsky, in the early 1900s.)

Built on a foundation of great friendship between three colleagues who have collaborated in various forms over many years, Trio Apaches has quickly been embraced on the international concert scene and is unanimously praised for the infectious joy and virtuosity of its performances and the imaginative nature of its programmes. As a Trio, this is its first visit to the Club, but Ashley Wass played for us in 2004 and 2006.

Between the first piano quartets of Saint-Saëns and Brahms, the centrepiece of tonight’s concert is Trio Apaches’ performance of the world première of a new trio by Sally Beamish (see panel opposite), commissioned by Malvern Concert Club with the generous support of The Kay Trust. To great acclaim, the Trio previously collaborated with Sally Beamish in her The Seafarer (with Sir Willard White) and her adaptation of Debussy’s La Mer.

Before the concert, at 6.20pm, Sally Beamish is in conversation on stage with composer Dr Liz Johnson of Birmingham Conservatoire. This pre-concert event is free to concert ticket holders; doors open 6.10pm.

Sally Beamish is one of the foremost composers of her generation. Her music is emotionally vivid and richly coloured, displaying virtuosic command of her canvas.

Born in London in 1956, Sally Beamish initially trained as a viola player at the Royal Northern College of Music before moving to Scotland in 1990 to develop her career as a composer. Her music embraces many influences, particularly jazz and Scottish traditional music, in a catalogue boasting over 200 compositions including solo, duo, chamber, orchestra, vocal, choral, ballet and opera works. Her music has been broadcast and performed extensively around the world.

Ticket price includes a £1 contribution to our heritage fund.