Marsyas Trio
About the Marsyas Trio
The London-based Marsyas Trio, formed of graduates of the Royal Academy of Music – Australian flautist Helen Vidovich, Canadian cellist Valerie Welbanks and Belarusian pianist Olga Stezhko – is one of the UK’s foremost mixed chamber ensembles. For over a decade , the Marsyas Trio has been championing the vast body of repertoire for flute, cello and piano, and instrumental combination which originated in the Classical era with Haydn and Clementi.
The medium continued to evolve in tandem with the progress of instrument making, to the modern day where the musical possibilities have never been greater. The Trio continues to develop this tradition through commissioning, and through our commitment to presenting a balanced range of works by historic and living composers, offering audiences an interesting perspective on gender, societal and political themes.
The combination of flute, cello and piano has a long history but as demonstrated by the Marsyas Trio it is still alive today. They presented an eclectic programme of 18th, 19th and 20th century music closing with an energetic and enlivening performance of Fanny Mendelssohn’s wonderful Trio Op 11. The chamber playing was impressively responsive. Helen Vidovich (flute) gave a wonderful performance of Haydn and Martinu in the first half which closed with Valerie Wellbanks’ (cello) sensitive performance of Debussy’s late Cello Sonata. The pianism of Olga Stezhko ranging from very fast effortless mercurial delicacy to restrained but ample power in the climaxes was outstanding.