Lunchtime Music: Fauré

Enceladus Trio
Qimao Li violin
Gen Li cello
Yifan Chen piano

Fauré Piano Trio in D minor, Op.120

The Luna Duo
Emily Hicks flute
Oliver Kinsella guitar

Ibert Entr'acte
Bartók Romanian Folk Dances
Castelnuovo-Tedesco Sonatina
    iii. Scherzo - Rondo
Thomas Sivi Griv

The Enceladus Trio consists of Qimao Li (violin), Yifan Chen (piano) and Gen Li (cello). Coming from the same region of China, the three students first met while studying in the affiliated high school of Sichuan Conservatory of Music in 2015, and had been playing and performing music together for a couple of years before founding the aptly named Enceladus Trio in 2022, derived from their shared interest in astronomy and the affection for The Planets by Holst. The trio and its members have won several chamber music competitions, including the Sylvia Cleaver Chamber Music Prize (2019/2020).

The Enceladus trio will be recording Fauré's Piano Trio and his other chamber works as their Final Project this year.

The Luna Duo is a newly formed duo of Emily Hicks (flute) and Oliver Kinsella (classical guitar), both current postgraduate students at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. They combine individual interests in classical, folk and contemporary music with a repertoire that provides a journey around Europe, from Italian sonatinas to Romanian dances and Macedonian folk songs.  

Originally from Northamptonshire, Emily is a keen performer and orchestral player. some recent highlights were securing a place on the prestigious CBSO training scheme, and recently playing with the Royal Ballet Sinfonia, the orchestra of Birmingham Royal Ballet. She has played principal flute in Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake Dreams, conducted by Paul Murphy, performed the Rite of Spring with the CBSO Youth orchestra, and  Lutoslawski's Concerto for Orchestra at Symphony Hall with the RBC Symphony Orchestra. 

Emily is the winner of the 2021 RBC Woodwind Prize and the winner of the best low flute performance as part of the British Flute Society's competition in 2020

Whilst Oliver performs a varied repertoire as a soloist, within the Luna duo, as part of the Tarka Guitar trio and in a number of folk bands, he has a keen interest in broadening the repertoire for his instrument, and has premiered pieces by numerous composers both within the Conservatoire and beyond. These include works for new combinations of instruments such as guitar and ronroco (Viridian by Zygmund de Somogyi) and classical guitar and (taped) electric guitar (Wandering by Luke Harrison). He has also recently worked with the renowned composers Soren Sieg and Marek Pasieczny on new pieces. Oliver is originally from North Devon, where he was taught by the late Desmond Miles - Devonshire legend.