Formed in 2012, the Leonore Piano Trio brings together three internationally acclaimed musicians whose piano trio performances as part of Ensemble 360 were met with such an enthusiastic response that they decided to form a piano trio in its own right.
They have since given concerts throughout the UK, Italy, Norway (Bergen International Festival and Oslo Concert Hall), Denmark and in New Zealand. Whilst in New Zealand they played to and coached a group of young musicians as part of the Sistema Aotearoa programme, and were adjudicators of the Royal Over-Seas League New Zealand Chamber Music Competition. Their concert in Hamilton was broadcast on Radio New Zealand.
The Trio’s debut recording with Hyperion of piano trios by Anton Arensky was released in March 2014. The disc received critical acclaim both nationally and internationally, and they have since recorded seven more discs for the label, each championing little-known but highly regarded composers. Subsequent releases include discs of works by Henry Charles Litolff, Edouard Lalo, Johann Peter Pixis, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Sergei Taneyev, and two discs of works by Sir Hubert Parry in honour of the composer’s centenary. Their disc of Woldemar Bargiel’s Piano Trios, released in April 2022, received five-star reviews for its “gloriously vibrant performances” and “graceful, urbane playing and flowing lyricism”, and was described as “delightful and diverting listening”.
The Leonore Piano Trio are keen exponents of contemporary music. They gave the first performance of Holkham Beach, a piece written for, and dedicated to, the Trio by Simon Rowland-Jones, and the piano trios of distinguished composers such as David Matthews and Harrison Birtwistle are central to their repertoire. They were also invited to give the first performance of Daniel Kidane’s new piano trio at Wigmore Hall. In August 2022 they gave the world premiere of Huw Watkins’ Piano Trio No. 2, commissioned for them by the Presteigne Festival, Music in the Round and Wigmore Hall, at the Presteigne Festival’s 40th anniversary edition. Their recording of the piece was released on Resonus in 2024, together with Watkins’ Piano Quartet, as part of a collection of the composer’s works. Their debut concert at the Edinburgh International Festival the same year featured Helen Grimes’ Piano Trio The Brook Sings Loud.
The Trio have presented two Beethoven trio cycles, in Sheffield and London, and an even broader project encompassing the composer’s complete works for violin and piano, and for cello and piano.
Upcoming performances include a BBC Radio 3 Lunchtime Concert with violist Lawrence Power at Wigmore Hall, and a further appearance at Wigmore Hall featuring trios by Huw Watkins, Brahms and Schumann.