The Leonore Piano Trio are delighted to join the Presteigne Festival in its 40th anniversary season this summer, performing new British music in several concerts throughout the week. Most notably, on the 29th August they give the world premiere of Huw Watkins’ Piano Trio No. 2 – a joint commission between the Presteigne Festival, Wigmore Hall, and Music in the Round. The Watkins will also be heard this autumn in Sheffield and Wiltshire.
Huw Watkins writes of his new piano trio:
Although my second piano trio runs continuously without a break for around a quarter of an hour, it divides into four main sections which correspond roughly with a more traditional four movement scheme. Two slow movements are followed by two fast movements. The music was co-commissioned by Presteigne Festival, Music in the Round and Wigmore Hall for the Leonore Trio, and is dedicated to George Vass. © Huw Watkins 2022
On the piece's premiere, cellist Gemma Rosefield writes:
We feel privileged to give the premiere of Huw Watkins' new piano trio. It is an incredible work and we can't wait to play it more and more in the coming years. We are sure it will become part of the core trio repertoire.
In the same programme on the 29th August, they also premiere Ninfea Cruttwell-Reade’s Bewegt, another Festival commission as part of their ‘Evolve’ programme. Throughout the week, the Trio also perform works by Joseph Phibbs, Freya Waley-Cohen, and David Matthews, for whom they recorded a disc of his complete Piano Trios that was lauded by the composer himself as “definitive”.
In addition, cellist Gemma Rosefield performs the premiere of Rylan Gleave’s to Gelert in her solo recital on the 25th August, and pianist Tim Horton performs a series of Homages to Hugh Wood by Thomas Hyde, David Matthews and Francis Pott in their world premiere performances on the 30th August. Benjamin Nabarro will also be heard in the Festival’s 40th Anniversary Gala alongside the Presteigne Festival Orchestra and conductor George Vass.
More information on the Festival can be found here.
