We are delighted to open our new season with a brilliant young piano trio which was formed in 2003 and soon were prizewinners at the Trondheim International Chamber Music Competition.

Two of the instrumentalists forming the trio have already made a deep impression on the Richmond Concert Society. The violinist Alexander Sitkovetsky played at the close of the 2005/6 season and Danny Driver, the pianist, gave a memorable piano recital in March 2006. This will be the first time the cellist, Oliver Coates, will have appeared at an RCS concert.

Alexander Sitkovetsky was born in Moscow in 1983 into a family with an established musical tradition. He made his debut as a soloist with the chamber orchestra in Montpellier, France and later the same year he was invited to become a pupil at the Yehudi Menuhin School. Since their first meeting, Lord Menuhin became a great inspiration for Alexander and supported him through his school years.

Alexander has performed in some of the world's most famous concert halls including the Wigmore Hall and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. He has released two critically acclaimed CD recordings on the Angel/HMV label. On one of the CD's he performed the Violin Concerto by our late President, Andrzej Panufnik.

Oliver Coates, whilst studying at the Royal Academy of Music, obtained the highest degree result possible. He went on to achieve a MPhil with distinction at New College, Oxford University. He won numerous prizes whilst studying at the Royal Academy including the John Barbirolli Memorial Prize, the Douglas Cameron Cello Prize, a Foundation Award and a Special Award from the Vice-Principal.

Danny Driver gave a memorable recital at the German School for the RCS. He has recently been singled out in the Daily Telegraph’s 2006 Classical Review of the Year. A graduate of Cambridge and the Royal College of Music, Danny first attracted attention when he won the Royal Over-Seas League Keyboard Award and the BBC Young Musician of the Year in rapid succession. He made his Wigmore Hall debut in the same period.

Danny has appeared in many of the country’s major concert halls and will soon be making his CD debut on the Hyperion label with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra under the conductor Martyn Brabbins.