Bridgewater and 5 Rackets Premiere
7th February 2012
We've had the great pleasure over the last few weeks of working on our Cheryl Frances-Hoad double-piano-trio commission with students from Chetham's School of Music (Annabelle's old school, and where her Father still teaches) in preparation for the world premiere at the Bridgewater Hall which took place today. It can be slightly nerve-wracking going to a school for the first time to rehearse or do workshops, as you can never second-guess what students' attitudes are going to be like: whether they will be keen to be taking part, or whether it will be like having to drag a half-dead shark through knee-deep mud. This time, we couldn't have had a better bunch of young musicians to work with! All three (Eleanor Kornas, Eleanora Koulouri-Consta and Oliver Farrant) were naturally brilliant players, but they were also interested, involved and keen to try things all the way through very long rehearsals. And even faced with the rather dauntingly large Bridgewater stage, despite only having minutes to rehearse between the end of a Hallé rehearsal and the doors being opened to the public, the three gave a really stunning performance. Cheryl's work was sandwiched between Schubert's youthful Sonatensatz and Ravel's epic Trio.
A good way to make Annabelle blush
Ahead of our performances for Music in the Round in Sheffield this week, the Sheffield Telegraph ran an article about the trio entitled "The Rule of Lawson", including a very interesting interview with Annabelle. As she hasn't yet learnt to edit the website, it seems fairly safe to quote it here:
WORKS by Mozart, Debussy, David Knotts and Brahms, being performed by the emergent Lawson Trio at the Crucible Studio this Friday, represent a cross-section of the threesome’s diverse repertoire.
It is an impressively large one containing over 60 works at present ranging from Beethoven’s piano trios, Schubert’s two masterpieces, through lesser-known pieces by the likes of Ives, Liszt and Panufnik, to the present day.
The number of works in the latter case is particularly startling, 23 written in the last 20 years – 12 of them in the last 10.
“Contemporary music plays a big role in our life as a trio,” states pianist Annabelle Lawson, who started it with two other string players at Cambridge University in 2000 – the present line-up has been together for just over four years.
She continues: “We find it extremely energising to be able to collaborate with composers, to be able to ask them questions, to feel that they have written works with our particular sound and strengths in mind.
“It is important that classical music is a living and continually developing art-form, and that in order for this to be the case, new composers and new audiences need to be ‘nourished’ in equal measure.
“Also, listening to and performing contemporary music is rather like sampling cuisine from multiple cultures; it stimulates and refreshes the ears in the same way that new tastes stimulate the taste-buds.
“It provides an element of surprise and a feeling of discovery.”
The piece The Long Way Home this Friday by David Knotts, an in-flavour, younger-generation English composer, was the all-female trio’s first commission for its South Bank debut in 2010.
Lasting ten minutes, it is in two movements, allegretto and largo (with the stipulation ‘tenderly’), the latter being a meditation on Sylvia Townsend Warner’s poem, Go the long way, the long way home.
In it she urges her reader to heed a rural scene on a midsummer day, her observations being tinged with the poignancy of the passing of time, while the first movement, the composer tells us, was inspired by observing his garden in a downpour on a summer’s day.
Other works have been written for the Lawson Trio – Gordon Crosse’s revision in 2010 of his 1993 piano trio, for instance.
Another better-known, slightly older generation English composer, Judith Weir, has had this to say about them: “Extreme clarity of interpretation and depth of preparation characterise their performances, whether the music is old or new, and their individual technical skills allow them to inhabit the piano trio repertoire from Haydn onwards, with an ease of enjoyment which is instantly communicated to the audience.”
Such is the general reaction to Lawson Trio performances, whether it’s of Beethoven, Schubert, the underrated Alan Rawsthorne, or Weir herself.
Martin Lovett of the Amadeus Quartet, has commented: “An extremely musical ensemble... truly excellent players... showing a commitment to chamber music at the highest level.”
He is one of a who’s who of highly distinguished musicians with whom the Lawson Trio have participated in masterclasses or received coaching from. Indeed, they continue to do, although with less frequency as they are passionate about education and now coaching young musicians themselves.
As part of Music in the Round’s Around the Country tour this season, they have preceded their concerts at four venues with visits to local schools and in Sheffield this Friday will be performing at two junior schools, Nether Green and Nook Lane.
Later, in the evening, as well as the piece by Knotts, they play the last of Mozart’s six piano trios, K564, and Debussy’s Piano Trio in G, effectively his Op 1 – “only discovered relatively recently and is little played,” says Annabelle.
“It was written when Debussy was only 18 and is not a mature work. It is, however, very charming.”
Brahms ends the concert with his Op 8 trio performed in its usually-heard, much later revised version, which shortened the original by a third.
For those wondering, who may recall adventuresome pianist Peter Lawson, Annabelle is his daughter.
She says: “My father taught me from the age of four to 18 and I still ask for his advice and support on a regular basis; whether it’s advice on my piano-playing, my teaching or my work-life balance.
“Both my parents have been at the core of my development as a musician, in their different ways.”
Our first CD recording!
23rd October 2011
After a gruelling final day recording Camden Reeves' The Dead Broke Blues Break, we've finally finished the CD! Although the prospect of listening to takes and editing it is one we probably wouldn't wish on our worst enemies... The disc will be released on 10th April 2012, to coincide with our Purcell Room recital where we will be giving the world premiere performances of the trios by Camden Reeves and Anthony Powers.
14th September 2011
We had our second day of recording today for our CD. The disc will comprise new British works, most of which have been written for us over the past couple of years: our commissions from David Knotts and Cheryl Frances-Hoad, and new trios by Anthony Powers and Camden Reeves. In addition to these there will be music by Mark-Anthony Turnage. The two recording days at Manchester University were both hugely exhilirating and exhausting, although everything ran very smoothly thanks to the presence of composers David Knotts and Anthony Powers to oversee their recordings, and our extraordinary producer, Cheryl Frances-Hoad! Most of the trios are simple piano trios, but Cheryl's work, Five Rackets for Piano Trio Relay is an Olympic Games inspired piece we have commissioned for the scheme Chamber Music 2000, for double piano trio - one group of pros and one of amateurs or kids. Both groups work together, with the two pianists seated at one piano, and for the non-pro trio each movement is aimed at a different difficulty level, ranging from beginners to Grade 8 level. We were joined for the recording by a fabulous piano trio from the chamber music course, Pro Corda - Ryan Drucker (piano), Henrietta Hill (violin) and Ellie Davidson ('cello). It was extremely rewarding to work with these wonderful young musicians: their musicianship, intelligence and good humour made for enjoyable rehearsals and exciting recordings. Possibly the highlight of the project was watching Annabelle and Ryan chasing each other round the piano stool in the Ping-Pong movement - we are threatening to add some video clips in the near future!
Melbourne
July 2011
It's safe to say WE LOVE AUSTRALIA!!!! We've had an incredible time at the Melbourne Competition, one of the final 8 trios selected to take part in the final rounds. The highlights have been the coffee, the gorgeous people we've met, the radio performances, the coffee, the wonderful audiences (particularly at our National Gallery recital), and did we mention the coffee? Our thanks to all the competition organisers, Tim Kennedy (page-turner extraordinaire), and our host family, Mary and Arnold Bram for their amazing hospitality. Clearly we'll be looking for any opportunity to go back as soon as possible!
Cavatina Trust
June 2011
The Cavatina Chamber Music Trust have invited us to join the illustrious group of ensembles working for them giving schools and family concerts. We're really looking forward to our first Family Concert on Sunday 11th March, 2012!
Park Lane Group
11th June 2011
We've just heard that we have been selected as Park Lane Group Young Artists for 2011/12! This is wonderful news, meaning we will now have two Purcell Room recitals in the spring of 2012, one on 12th January as part of the PLG's New Year Series, and one on 10th April. The PLG recital will be shared with mezzo-soprano Belinda Williams, and we will be performing trios by Mark-Anthony Turnage and Nico Muhly in the first half, with Gordon Crosse's Piano Trio in the second half, a world premiere of the new revision he has just made specifically for us. We will also be giving a free lunchtime recital in the Royal Festival Hall Foyer on Friday 25th November as part of the PLG's series.
Workshops at Queen's University, Belfast
23rd March 2011
We have just returned from a couple of days of coaching both composers and performers at Queen's University, Belfast. Over the last few years we have been fortunate to visit Queen's every year for similar workshop trips, and were delighted this year that, despite the present financial climate, they were still willing to budget for these sorts of projects. We get to teach a huge range of performers, from our own instruments through to Tuba Duos, and every year, reams of piano trios are written by the students specifically for us. This year was a particular challenge for us since, unfortunately the scores and parts sent by the composition department for us to study in advance never arrived, and so we were left sightreading over 30 new piano trios in front of a rather knowledgeable audience! It's amazing in a composition department that large, that no two works sounded even similar, The students manage to employ an incredible number of unusual and imaginative compositional techniques, although, while it's wonderful on a creative level that they aren't allowed to use computers to compose, it can be quite challenging for the performer! It is always a huge pleasure for us to get to teach at this level, and the attitude of the students is always so fabulously open - it's as if they are sponges, ready to eat up any information and advice we can offer.
Schubertiade for the Schubert Society of Britain in aid of the Japan disaster
20th March 2011
We would like to thank the Schubert Society for deciding to dedicate our Schubertiade recital today to raising money for the relief efforts in Japan. We would also like to thank the German YMCA for their generosity.
Aldeburgh String Quartet Residency
28th January 2011
None of us can believe how quickly our residency has flown by. We have been working like crazy, but we've had an incredible time. Each of the musicians we were fortunate to work with opened our minds to new ideas and directions, while encouraging us always to be ourselves, and it was great to be able to have this sort of concentrated time to work on some of our repertoire for the Melbourne competition. We'll put up some photos on our Facebook page in the next few days.
17th January 2011
We've just arrived in Suffolk to take part in one of Aldeburgh Music's "string quartet residencies". Some of you may have noticed that we aren't actually a string quartet, but fortunately either the people at Aldeburgh Music haven't, or they're just bending the rules for us. We will spend 2 weeks here based at the Kiln in Snape Maltings, working intensively with Colin Carr, Hugh Maguire and Simon Rowland-Jones on works by Schubert, Rawsthorne, Ives and Ravel. We will be giving a lunchtime recital on the two Fridays at the Jubilee Hall in Aldeburgh - as long as we can still move after the obscene amount of fish and chips we're planning to eat.
Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition
4th January 2011
Happy New year! We are delighted to have found out we are one of 8 piano trios who have been invited to participate in the main rounds of the Melborune International Chamber Music Competition in July 2011. It's a great way to start the new year! Over the next few weeks we will be planning a number of extra concerts for the summer in reparation, so do keep an eye on our schedule.
Vienna open audition
1st December 2010
We will be travelling to Vienna on 16th Vienna for a live audition for Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition. In case you just happen to be travelling through, we will be playing a programme of Haydn and Brahms at the Konservatorium, Singerstraße 26 at 12pm. Fingers crossed Ryanair get us there.....
Facebook!
29th November 2010
For anyone on Facebook, we have finally set up a Lawson Trio page! If you click on the blue F button at the bottom of our home page, you will go straight to our Facebook page which is full of unusual photos and bizarre updates. Enjoy.....
Music in the Round
17th November 2010
On the recommendation of ChamberStudio, we have just been invited by Music in the Round to take part in their 2011/12 tour. We're thrilled that we'll be doing recitals around the country under the umbrella of Music in the Round.
ChamberStudio at Kings Place
2nd October 2010
We have just been invited to be one of a number of young ensembles receiving masterclasses at ChamberStudio which will be taking place on Sunday afternoons at Kings Place in London. This is the brainchild of Richard Ireland who is aiming to provide post-postgraduate chamber groups with the chance to take part in subsidised coaching sessions, and also performance opportunities. Our first sessions will be on 24th October with David Waterman and Susan Tomes, and all classes will be open to the public. |
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