FournierTrio_1000

Fournier Piano Trio

St Margaret's Church, Twickenham, TW1 1RL (Opp. St Margarets Station)
Beethoven:
10 Variations on “Ich bin der Schneider Kakadu”, Op. 121a
Brahms:
Piano Trio No. 3 in C minor, Op. 101
Arensky:
Piano Trio No. 1, Op. 32

Formed in 2009, the internationally award-winning Fournier Trio has rapidly established itself as one of the leading young chamber ensembles in the UK. Described by Classical Source as having “awesome but restrained technical ability and chamber-music antennae”, it was winner of the prestigious 2013 Parkhouse Award at Wigmore Hall, finalist at Hamburg in 2012 and was recipient of 2nd Prize and Audience Prize at the 6th Trondheim International Chamber Music Competition in 2011. The trio has made critically acclaimed debuts at both the Wigmore Hall and
Purcell Room in London and in 2012 embarked on its first European Tour after its selection for “New Masters on Tour” at the International Holland Music Sessions, culminating with its debut at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw.

The Trio made appearances at major UK festivals including the Bath International Music Festival, Newbury Spring Festival, Chichester Festivities, Brighton, Lamberhurst and Devizes Festivals and toured Scotland extensively as part of their Tunnell Trust Award. Abroad it made regular visits to the Trondheim International Music Festival, in 2010 performing Faure’s Piano Quartet No. 2 with Lawrence Power and in 2012 collaborating with Sir Peter Maxwell Davies in a performance of his Piano Trio in addition to giving masterclasses. Last season its performances included three major London recitals at St John’s Smith Square, Purcell Room and Wigmore Hall, a live performance for BBC Radio 3’s “In Tune”, and its first visit to the Far East making debuts and masterclasses at Singapore’s Yong Siew Toh Conservatory “Ones to Watch” Series, Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, and the brand new Eslite Performance Hall in Taipei.

David Takeno has been a continuous influence on the Trio’s development since the formation of the ensemble. During the Trio’s founding years the musicians were Leverhulme Chamber Music Fellows at the Royal Academy of Music where they worked with renowned pedagogues Thomas Brandis, Christopher Elton, Michael Dussek and Sung-Won Yang in addition to their duties as mentors to student chamber groups. The Trio has participated in masterclasses by Ralph Kirshbaum, Gabor Takacs-Nagy, Susan Tomes, Leif Ove Andsnes, Daniel Hope and Martin Lovett. Since 2011 the Fournier Trio has been “Artist-in-Residence” at Oxford University’s Wolfson College where it continues to perform recitals and conduct masterclasses.

Committed to expand the piano trio repertoire, the Trio has premiered new trios by leading British composers Gary Carpenter, Hugh Wood, Timothy Salter and Daniel Kidane. This season the trio looks forward to releasing two albums. The first for USK Recordings, which includes Timothy Salter’s Piano Trio alongside the Faure and Ravel Trios, and the second with Resonus Classics featuring the Mendelssohn Piano Trios.

The Fournier Trio is grateful to Wolfson College Oxford University, Royal Academy of Music, Kirckman Concert Society, Park Lane Group and Philharmonia Orchestra MMSF for their generous support.