OCMS - Trio Gaspard

Trio Gaspard has championed the entire breadth of piano trio repertoire to become one of the most sought-after trios of its generation, praised for its unique and fresh approach to the score. As well as exploring well-known classics, the players work with contemporary composers and research seldom-played masterpieces, sharing their discoveries with audiences at prestigious venues around the world. Their curiosity for uncovering repertoire has led to recent performances of Ethyl Smyth’s Piano Trio in D minor at the BBC Proms, broadcast live by the BBC, and Bernd Alois Zimmermann’s rarely-performed Présence: Ballet Blanc, alongside dancer Luka Fritsch.

Committed to new music, the trio has launched an extensive project to commission composers such as Olli Mustonen, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Helena Winkelman, Sally Beamish, Kit Armstrong, Johannes Fischer and Leonid Gorokhov to write companion pieces to Haydn’s piano trios. For its debut project with Chandos Records, the group is currently recording these works alongside Haydn’s originals. The third instalment of the series was released in 2024 to great critical acclaim – The Strad wrote that there is ‘plenty to delight in this infectious Haydn trio survey’. Alongside their Haydn recordings, they have devised a new CD series of ‘Stories’, focussing on different European cultural capitals and the composers associated with them. ‘Berlin Stories’ was released in 2023, with music by Mendelssohn, Juon and Skalkottas – awarded five stars by both BBC Music Magazine and The Strad – and future instalments will focus on Prague and Budapest.

Trio Gaspard is regularly invited to major international concert halls including Berlin Philharmonie, Essen Philharmonie, Boulez Saal, Grafenegg Castle, Salle Molière, Lyon, and Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg. Other recent highlights have included a residency at London’s Wigmore Hall, a debut tour of Australia, including appearances in Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne, and performances of Beethoven’s ‘Triple’ Concerto with Uppsala Chamber Orchestra. Forthcoming engagements include tours of Sweden, Germany and the UK as well as appearances at the Sibelius Academy, Helsinki, and a debut at Concertgebouw, Amsterdam.

Founded in 2010, the trio’s members hail from Germany, Greece and the UK. They studied at the European Chamber Music Academy, under Johannes Meissl (Artis Quartet), Ferenc Rados, Avedis Kouyoumdjian, Jérome Pernoo and Peter Cropper (Lindsay Quartet), as well as with Hatto Beyerle. They were Chamber Music Fellows at the Royal Northern College of Music (2017–19) and won first and special prizes at the Joseph Joachim Chamber Music Competition, the International Haydn Chamber Music Competition and International Chamber Music Competition in Illzach, France.

‘Kaleidoscopic textures and sprightly wit, wonderfully conveyed by Trio Gaspard… delightful listening’ The Times