Leopold String Trio

Highly regarded worldwide, the Leopold String Trio recently won the 2005 Royal Philharmonic Society’s Chamber Ensemble Award. They perform regularly at the world's leading concert halls including Carnegie Hall New York, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Musikverein Vienna, Wigmore Hall London and Symphony Hall Melbourne and at the major festivals such as Edinburgh, Aldeburgh, Vancouver and Stavanger. They were selected for the ECHO 'Rising Stars' series, the BBC New Generation Artists scheme and were winners of a 2004 Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award.

“What defines the string trio is that the three voices are equal. The Mozart Divertimento and the Beethoven trios were ground-breaking in that they were evenly written for the three instruments.”
Lawrence Power viola

The string trio repertoire is relatively unknown and the Leopolds' success as an established string trio is a rare achievement. The medium boasts the sonority of a string quartet with the exposed intensity of three more soloistic voices. The Leopolds are passionate about the strength and depth of the repertoire. They have premiered works by Kurtag, Henze, David Matthews, James Brown and Judith Bingham. Trio recordings for Hyperion include the complete Beethoven String Trios, Mozart's Divertimento and a CD of Dohnanyi, Martinu and Schoenberg. All have had outstanding reviews.

“We became established as a string trio, rather than what's often the case, which is three soloists or chamber musicians coming together for a one-off concert.”
Kate Gould cello

In autumn 2005, the Leopold String Trio embarked on The Series, a three year event at Wigmore Hall and Turner Sims Concert Hall, with 12 concert programmes expressing the scope and versatility of the String Trio repertoire.

“The Series, with programmes themed in pairs, has given our programming and touring life a very strong back bone and we’ve reveled in the chance to expand our repertoire with stunning, yet lesser known, pieces by composers such as Ysaÿe, Tanayev and Hans Krasa.”
Kate Gould cello

Lawrence and Kate are thrilled that Isabelle van Keulen has recently become the violinist of the group. She is widely regarded as one of the most sought after and charismatic musicians of her generation, as both a soloist and chamber musician, and her immense experience has brought a new dimension to their interpretations ensuring the group continues to develop and grow through the rest of the series and beyond.

All three players have a varied musical life, and enjoy striking a balance between their unique blend as a trio, and solo and ensemble work with other groups. The Leopold String Trio often performs with guests. They have recorded the Mozart Piano Quartets and Schubert Trout Quintet with Paul Lewis, and the complete Brahms Piano Quartets with Marc-André Hamelin.

“The performance gave the concert's best demonstration of the Leopold players' incredible finesse and musicality. Were there only three musicians? The Leopolds’ multiple bowing effects, fancy bridge work and plucked delicacies suggested about ten, colouring the notes with a beauty and subtlety managed by all too few Schoenberg performances” The Times, December 2003