NEW PIANO TRIO FEAT. BENJAMIN SCHMID

Since its founding in 2014, the New Piano Trio has been closely associated with Benjamin Schmid. For Florian Willeitner, the trio’s violinist and composer, Schmid has been a role model, a source of inspiration, and a teacher. Both of the main works in this evening’s concert — the sublime, elegiac “Valentinair”, and “Blue Folk Symphony”, which is the second movement of Willeitner’s Violin Concerto No.1 — are dedicated to Benjamin Schmid. As Benjamin Schmid once said: “Florian’s music is what we have all been waiting for: a combination of mind, emotion, and groove”. For this coming-together of the world-famous violinist and these three young colleagues, Willeitner has produced delicate, sprightly chamber music versions of these two works, which were originally composed for solo violin and orchestra. A selection of “best-of” pieces from the trio’s repertoire serves to complete the programme.