Marsyas Trio: Visit Two
We're looking forward to inviting the newly appointed FUAM Ensemble in Residence, the Marsyas Trio, for their second visit to the university. Over two days, they'll be putting on a composition workshop, a professional development talk, and a concert not to miss. They'll also be rehearsing with LSTwo and prepping for future concerts with us.
The London-based Marsyas Trio, formed of graduates of the Royal Academy of Music - Australian flautist Helen Vidovich, Canadian cellist Valerie Welbanks and Belarusian pianist Olga Stezhko - is one of the UK's foremost mixed chamber ensembles. For over a decade , the Marsyas Trio has been championing the vast body of repertoire for flute, cello and piano, and instrumental combination which originated in the Classical era with Haydn and Clementi. Their latest album ‘Alternative Readings’ featuring vocal & chamber music by Michael Finnissy was released on the Métier | Divine Art Recordings label in March 2024, in collaboration with award-winning mezzo-soprano Lotte Betts-Dean. The Trio’s previous CD ‘In the Theatre of Air’ (NMC Recordings 2018) celebrated the centenary of women’s suffrage in Britain and debuted at No. 7 on the classical charts. The ensemble takes its name from Greek mythology: inspired by the bold, spirited passion of Marsyas, the celebrated pipe-playing satyr who dared to defeat Apollo in a musical contest.
We'd love for you to join us for their Friday night concert - This program celebrates iconic historic composers, including Beach and Farrenc who were active in bringing about change for women in the arts through their campaigns for equal pay and voting rights. In the second half, the Marsyas Trio will present a multimedia experience featuring composers' responses to the natural world. The Clothworkers Hall will be transformed through sound and light to emulate a series of short images of birds in flight in Ewan Campbell's recent collaboration with Spanish photographer Xavi Bou, and the underwater experience of Crumb's Vox Balaenae. The program also features the title track from the Marsyas Trio's brand new album, Alternative Readings, a recording that brings together the visionary compositions of Michael Finnissy, as featured on BBC Radio3's New Music show last month.
Amy Beach (1867-1944) - Pastorale & Caprice, “The Water Sprites”, op 90
Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921) - Une flûte invisible for voice, flute & piano
Louise Farrenc (1804-1875) - Trio in E minor, op 45 for flute, cello and piano
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) - Mir ist Wunderbar from Fidelio for chamber ensemble & singers
Interval
Ewan Campbell (b. 1983) - Written in Air
Michael Finnissy (b. 1946) - Alternative Readings
George Crumb (1929-1922) - Vox Balaenae (Voice of the Whale)