Gould Piano Trio Visits Alleyn’s for Masterclass and Concert

The second music masterclass this academic year was offered by the Gould Piano Trio on Tuesday 1 March. The day-long visit was part of the Alleyn’s International Concert Series (AICS) organized by the Music Department.

During the afternoon they coached over 30 students in 10 chamber groups playing music including Clara Schumann Piano Trio, Robert Schumann Piano Quartet and the Clarinet Trio and G minor Piano Quartet by Brahms. This is truly fantastic music, and it was clearly a joy for the students to immerse themselves and be led through the scores by members of the Gould Trio. The afternoon concentrated of course on the techniques of chamber playing but also on drawing more from this great music through their performances.

No less inspiring was the evening concert at the MCT, and for those who had been coached during the afternoon, this was where the comments that had been made to them started to really make sense as they could hear these fine musicians practise what they had been preaching!

The Gould Trio presented a varied programme, starting with Haydn and then a performance of a relatively newly discovered trio by the Russian female composer Leokadiya Kashperova, written in the 1930s and full of post-Romantic colour. Given the global situation, the performers then made a change in the programme, not feeling that the nationalistic and funereal connotations of the Tchaikovsky Trio that they were scheduled to play seemed appropriate. A symbolic but significant gesture of unity that certainly seemed to be appreciated by a supportive and enthusiastic audience. Instead, we were treated to Brahms' heroic and sublime C major Trio - a truly uplifting way to finish a fabulous day of music-making.

Thank you to the members of the Gould Trio, Lucy Gould, Richard Lester and Benjamin Frith, for a truly delightful day of music and for your kind words on Twitter!

The next AICS events for this season will be announced soon so please do keep a check on the MCT website for more information.