Helen Vidovich (flute) Val Welbanks (cello) Olga Stezhko (piano)

Joseph Haydn - Piano Trio no 28 in D major, Hob.XV:16
Judith Weir - Several Concertos for Flute, Cello and Piano (1980)
Michael Spencer - Las Meninas (Love letter No. 7) - in memoriam Ernie Spencer (2025)

The Marsyas Trio return to Clothworkers with music from across three centuries. Haydn's Trio in D major is from a set of three which he composed for flute, cello and piano in the early 1790s.  We jump forward 200 years to the 1980s with the satirical and spectacularly virtuosic Several Concertos by Judith Weir alongside the world premiere of Michael Spencer’s Las Meninas (Love letter No. 7) - in memoriam Ernie Spencer, written for the Marsyas Trio earlier this year. This special pairing celebrates the teacher-student connection between Weir and Spencer, who studied with her at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama as a teenager in the 80s.

The Marsyas Trio is formed of Royal Academy of Music graduates, flautist Helen Vidovich from Australia, Canadian cellist Valerie Welbanks and Belarusian pianist Olga Stezhko.

Showcasing a diverse repertoire from the Classical and Romantic eras to the present day, the Marsyas Trio’s programming illuminates forgotten masterpieces, whilst inspiring a generation of new works through commissioning and recording projects.

Concert highlights include performances at Kettle’s Yard, Conway Hall, Howard Assembly Room, the Red House Aldeburgh for Britten-Pears Arts, Spitalfields Music, BBC Radio 3, Three Choirs Festival, the King’s Hall in Ilkley, as well as performances in Scotland, China, Switzerland, Bulgaria, and the USA & Canada.

The Trio’s most recent CD release on the Métier label - ‘Alternative Readings’ - has been received with critical acclaim. ‘This remarkable sequence of compositions by Michael Finnissy’ (Gramophone June 2024) is a collaboration with award-winning mezzo-soprano Lotte Betts-Dean and was awarded 5-stars in BBC Music Magazine, as Chamber Choice of the Month.

The Marsyas Trio’s past CDs include ‘A Triple Portrait’ (Meridian Records 2015), featuring the music of Elena Firsova, and ‘In the Theatre of Air’ (NMC Recordings 2018), an album of music by living British women composers, which debuted at No. 7 on the classical charts.

As passionate cross-art collaborators and educators, the ensemble has a diverse portfolio of multimedia projects and outreach for children and teenagers across the UK. They have worked with many of the UK’s leading composers, as well as celebrities such as the late Janey Godley and Ed Balls.

Since 2022, the Trio has been resident at the University of Cambridge (Churchill College) as Artist By-Fellows. The ensemble was selected as the FUAM Ensemble in Residence at Leeds University in 2024-25.

The Marsyas Trio takes its name from Greek mythology, inspired by the bold, spirited passion of the celebrated pipe-playing satyr who dared to compete with Apollo in a musical contest.