Kirckman Concerts present: Astatine Trio

The award-winning Astatine Trio, BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists for 2025-27, presents a programme juxtaposing the Second World War-inspired darkness of Weinberg’s Piano Trio with the radiant optimism of Beethoven’s great ‘Archduke’ Trio.

The concert opens with Canadian composer Kelly-Marie Murphy’s Give Me Phoenix Wings To Fly. ‘I’ve always been intrigued by the myth of the Phoenix’, Murphy says – ‘a bird that immolates in fire and then rises up again from its own ashes. It is such a powerful image, and one which is relevant to contemporary life, as we find ourselves balanced somewhat precariously on the brink of disaster.’

This is followed by Weinberg’s only Piano Trio: written at the end of the Second World War, which saw his entire family murdered in a concentration camp after he had fled Poland, it is a work of astonishing power and emotional intensity.

By way of contrast, Beethoven’s Archduke Trio, enduringly popular and one of the masterworks of the piano trio repertoire, finds the composer at his most life-affirming and generous.

This event will last approximately 2 hours, including an interval.