BIOGRAPHY “The Amatis Trio is an outstanding ensemble on their way to establishing a great international CONWAY career” - Prof. Daniel Hope (Beaux Arts Trio) HALL The Amatis was founded in Amsterdam (Netherlands) in 2014 by German violinist Lea SUNDAY Hausmann, British cellist Samuel Shepherd and Dutch/Chinese pianist Mengjie Han. The 2015 Parkhouse Award winners are rapidly establishing themselves as a leading piano trio in Europe. Highlights of last CONCERTS season include concerts at Wigmore Hall, Royal Concertgebouw Amsterdam and the Beethoven-Haus Bonn. They have performed extensively throughout Europe, concertising in the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Sweden, Norway, Italy, Portugal and France. The trio has performed in many prestigious festivals including Salzburg Chamber Music Festival, Grachtenfestival Amsterdam, Beethoven Festival Bonn, Patrons Janine Jansen’s Utrecht Chamber Music Festival and next year will be performing at the Festival Pablo - Stephen Hough, Laura Ponsonby AGSM, Prunella Scales Casals in France. Future engagements include concerts in Indonesia, China and the USA. CBE, Roderick Swanston, Hiro Takenouchi and Timothy West CBE Artistic Director - Simon Callaghan Soon after forming the Amatis Piano Trio won the audience prize in the renowned Amsterdam Grachtenfestival Competition, which led to many concerts in major venues throughout the Netherlands. In 2014 the trio was invited to the prestigious Trondheim International Chamber Music Academy (Norway), where they worked and performed with distinguished musicians such as Daniel Hope (Beaux Arts Trio), Miguel da Silva (Ÿsaye Quartet) and Hatto Beyerle (Alban Berg Quartet). In 2015 they Sunday November 8th 2015, 6:30pm became the youngest finalists of the International Chamber Music Competition ‘Schubert und die Musik der Moderne’ in Graz, Austria and shortly after were named ‘Dutch Classical Talent 2015/16’. The Amatis Piano Trio is committed to modern music and thus founded the ‘Dutch Piano Trio Composition Prize’ encouraging young composers to help further the piano trio repertoire.

The trio has worked intensively with Trio Jean Paul, Lukas Hagen and Rainer Schmidt (Hagen Quartet), Wolfgang Redik ( Piano Trio) and Daniel Gaede (former concertmaster Vienna Philharmonic). AMATIS TRIO They have received masterclasses from Anner Bylsma, Ib Hausmann, Imre Rohmann and Fabio Bidini, amongst others. The Amatis Piano Trio are part of the European Chamber Music Academy since 2015.

NEXT AT CONWAY HALL VIOLIN LEA HAUSMANN Sunday November 15th 2015, 6.30pm SAMUEL SHEPHERD MARTIN ROSCOE (PIANO) PIANO MENGJIE HAN Beethoven Sonata in G Op. 14/2 Schubert Impromptus D.935 Nos. 2&3 Beethoven Sonata in C minor Op. 13 ‘Pathétique’ Chopin Impromptu No. 2 in F sharp Op. 36 & Fantasie-Impromptu Op. 66 Fauré Impromptu No.1 Op. 25 & No. 2 Op. 31 Beethoven Sonata in A flat Op. 110

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Conway Hall Sunday Concerts are an integral part of the charitable activities of Conway Hall. Please turn off all mobile phones and electronic devices. Conway Hall’s registered charity name is Conway Hall Ethical Society (n o . 1156033). No recording and photographing allowed at any time. PROGRAMME PROGRAMME NOTES HAYDN TRIO IN C HOB. XV:27 (1797) Haydn’s ten ‘London’ Trios were composed during his second trip to London between 1794 and 1797. Franz Josef Haydn (1732-1809) The C major trio was published in 1797 and features three movements in the traditional fast-slow-fast TRIO IN C HOB. XV:27 (1797) structure. The first movement is in sonata form and is dominated by the piano, perhaps reflecting the trio’s origins in the ‘accompanied sonata’. The second and third movements however, challenge this; the I. Allegro second employing the cello extremely effectively to intensify the mood while the third is full of exciting II. Andante conversation between the violin and the piano. III. Finale: presto CHOPIN TRIO IN G MINOR OP. 8 (1829) The Trio for Piano, Violin and Cello, Op. 8, is a composition in G minor composed by Frédéric Chopin and dedicated to Antoni Radziwill. The piece has established itself as a core member of the piano trio Frédéric Chopin (1810-49) repertoire. In a letter to his friend Tytus Woyciechowski dated 31 August 1830, Chopin speculates whether he should have written the violin line for viola, believing that the viola’s timbre would “accord TRIO IN G MINOR OP. 8 (1829) better with the cello”. I. Allegro con fuoco II. Scherzo SUK ÉLÉGIE OP. 23 (1902) III. Adagio sostenuto ’s affinity for chamber music was matched by few of his Czech contemporaries. His first chamber IV. Finale: Allegretto compositions were written in his late teens at the Conservatory, where he was a student in Antonin Dvorak’s compositional class. With fellow students Karel Hoffmann, Otto Berger and , Suk founded the Czech Quartet, an ensemble which was to gain considerable fame throughout Europe. Though the group’s membership went through numerous changes, Suk maintained his post as second violinist in the quartet for forty years. His performing career was directly instrumental in the INTERVAL formulation of his many important chamber works. (15 mins) The Op. 23 Elegy was originally scored for solo violin, solo cello, string quartet, harmonium and harp. The version for piano trio is shorter than the original, which was written for a commemorative event in 1902 marking the anniversary of the death of writer Julius Zeyer. It was given the subtitle “Under the Impression of Zeyer’s Vysehrad,” a reference to the writer’s epic poem based on elements of Czech mythology. Josef Suk (1874-1935)

ÉLÉGIE OP. 23 (1902) RAVEL TRIO IN A MINOR (1914) Ravel had been planning to write a trio for at least six years before beginning work in earnest in March 1914. At the outset, Ravel remarked to his pupil Maurice Delage, “I’ve written my trio. Now all I need are the themes.” During the summer of 1914, Ravel did his compositional work in the French (1875-1937) Basque commune of Saint-Jean-de-Luz. Ravel was born across the bay in the Basque town of Ciboure; his mother was Basque, and he felt a deep identification with his Basque heritage. During the Trio’s TRIO IN A MINOR (1914) composition, Ravel was also working on a piano concerto based on Basque themes entitled Zazpiak Bat I. Modéré (Basque for “The Seven are One”). Although eventually abandoned, this project left its mark on the Trio, particularly in the opening movement, which Ravel later noted was “Basque in colouring.” II. Pantoum (Assez vif) While initial progress on the Trio was slow, the outbreak of World War I in August 1914 spurred on III. Passacaille (Très large) Ravel to finish the work so that he could enlist in the army. A few days after France’s entry into the war, IV. Final (Animé) Ravel wrote again to Maurice Delage: “Yes, I am working on the Trio with the sureness and lucidity of a madman.” By September he had finished it, writing to Igor Stravinsky, “The idea that I should be leaving at once made me get through five months’ work in five weeks! My Trio is finished.” In October, he was accepted as a nurse’s aide by the Army, and in March 1916 he became a volunteer truck driver for the Tonight’s performance will finish at approximately 8:15pm. 13th Artillery Regiment.