Preview: Melrose Music Society presents the Kapten Piano Trio

The Kapten Trio was formed in 2011 when its members were still students of the Conservatoire, where they were chosen as Young Artists in Residence and received coaching from Susan Tomes (Florestan Trio), Ilya Gringolts, and Harald Herzl amongst others.

Now these three talented young musicians have gained a reputation for their energetic and passionate performances across the UK and further afield.

Cellist Duncan Strachan, from the West Highlands, read music at Oxford where he graduated with a double first before joining violinist Rachel Spencer, from Yorkshire and their Estonian pianist, Kristi Kapten, at the Royal Conservatoire. All three have won multiple prizes and scholarships.

Described as “among the finest players I have ever heard coming through the academy ranks” (Michael Tumelty, The Herald), the Kapten Trio are equally at home performing classical, romantic and contemporary works.

The concert opens with Mozart’s second piano trio in G major. Written in the same year as Marriage of Figaro, its three movements form the longest of the composer’s six piano trios.

Following Mozart comes Ravel’s piano trio of four movements, its sources of inspiration including Basque dances and Malaysian verse.

Mozart then returns in Arvo-Pärt’s Mozart Adagio, composed for the Helsinki 1992 Festival and described as a ‘spiritual encounter between the eighteenth and twentieth centuries’. Mendelssohn’s melodious four-movement trio in D minor concludes the programme.

The concert starts at 7.30pm, in Melrose Parish Church Hall. Tickets at the door, £12, free for accompanied children. See www.melrosemusicsociety.org.uk for further info.