Leopold String Trio - About

Being chosen for a BBT Award was an honour and we are very grateful for the feeling of support and recognition that it is giving us. Most significantly, it has encouraged us to address the future and find a sense of where we are and where we want to go, as a group. The award was a springboard for the idea of putting on a concert series over the next three years, and BBT’s backing enabled us to step out and create this with confidence. It is all too easy to keep reacting to offers year after year, rather than making our own path and keeping in touch our own ideals. We feel privileged to be in this position and determined to make the most of it!

The UK-based Leopold String Trio quickly established itself at the forefront of the international chamber music scene, becoming frequent visitors to major international venues and festivals and producing several critically acclaimed recordings. With a keen interest themselves in pioneering lesser-known masterpieces as well as contemporary music, the Leopolds also founded ‘Friends of the Leopold String Trio’ in 2009 to support projects such as new commissions and an annual masterclass for young chamber ensembles.

With its BBT award the Trio launched Leopold String Trio: The Series, a three-year cycle of concerts at the Wigmore Hall in London and Turner Sims Concert Hall in Southampton which was well received in both cities. The Series ran from 2005 to 2008 and consisted of six pairs of concerts linked by various themes, expressing the scope and versatility of the string trio repertoire, including collaboration with other illustrious instrumentalists.

BBT was on hand to make three short films marking the stepping stones of the Trio’s progress with the Trust: the first in 2004, a profile with the three original members (Marianne Thorsen, Lawrence Power and Kate Gould); the second in 2006, to mark the launch of The Series which the Trio believed led to their Royal Philharmonic Society Award; and finally in 2007, a welcome to new member Isabelle van Keulen. Following several years of great success, they decided to end on a high and disbanded in 2012.

Leopold String Trio was supported with a BBT Award between 2004 and 2008.

Photographs by Benjamin Ealovega