This relatively new piano trio has been founded by performers with already enviable reputations as formidable collaborative musicians. It is a pleasure to welcome them here to Luton for the first time as an ensemble.

They bring a thrillingly virtuosic programme, of which a highlight will surely be the Dvořák trio, written as a memorial to his mother who died at the end of 1882. If we are looking for music to illustrate our season’s theme, The Relationship between Literature, Art & Music, then perhaps Judith Weir’s O Viridissima will be of special interest. It is a work inspired by O Viridissima Virga (O greenest branch), a monodic hymn from Hildegard von Bingen, the 12th Century herbalist, nun and composer. Her text explores ideas relating to the Virgin Mary’s fertility as it is reflected in the world of nature. After Hildegard’s surprisingly dark observation – ‘Eve rejected these things’ – the hymn closes with more positive affirmation – ‘Now let there be praise to the highest’.

Richard Sisson (Chair of Luton Music)