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.

Astatine Trio

Since its formation in 2021, the award-winning Astatine Trio has emerged as one of the UK’s most exciting young ensembles, most recently named BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists for 2025-27. The trio was awarded second prize and the special prize for best performance of the prizewinning work of the composition competition at the 2025 Franz Schubert and Modern Music Competition in Graz, becoming the first UK-based ensemble to win a main prize in the competition’s history. Other accolades include first prizes at the Birmingham International Piano Chamber Music Competition, Virtuoso&Belcanto International Chamber Competition (Lucca, Italy) and Senior Intercollegiate Piano Trio Competition in 2022. The trio also received the SEAM Prize for contemporary music at the 2023 Lyon International Chamber Competition, in which they were the youngest finalists.

The trio has performed extensively across the UK and abroad, including at Wigmore Hall, St George’s Bristol, Aldeburgh’s Jubilee Hall and the Harrogate Sunday Series, and as Britten Pears Young Artists for the 2023/24 season they made their début appearance on BBC Radio 3 In Tune in February 2024. The trio are current Hans Keller Chamber Fellows at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and are a resident ensemble at ProQuartet – Centre Européen de Musique de Chambre (Paris) for the 2025-2027 seasons.

From 2022-25 the trio benefited from the mentorship of legendary pianist Alfred Brendel, at his personal invitation. The trio has undertaken residencies at Snape Maltings and at the University of Cambridge, as part of ChamberStudio’s inaugural Hans Keller Forum, and attended the 2025 IMS Prussia Cove masterclasses in the class of Thomas Adès. Currently, the trio is being mentored by Anthony Marwood through ChamberStudio and is a member ensemble of the European Chamber Academy.