BUSCH TRIO
Mathieu van Bellen, viool Omri Epstein, piano, Ori Epstein, cello
Encounters in the world of chamber music often develop into friendships, but the reverse is far more unusual: when, from a group of school friends with a range of everyday hobbies, a chamber group emerges that reaches the highest level on the international stage. This is how the Busch Trio came into existence, establishing themselves among the leading ensembles.
‘This trio is the fruit of a friendship that has existed for years’, is how Omri Epstein describes the essentially spontaneous process by which the trio came into being after meeting at the Royal College of Music in London more than a decade ago. At the time, the three were aspiring soloists, but their shared passion for chamber music became their strongest bond.
It was around then that Mathieu was given the honour of playing the ‘ex- Adolf Busch’ G.B. Guadagnini (Turin, 1783) – the legendary violinist already a shining example for the young trio. Their choice to play on gut strings signifies a deep appreciation for the aesthetic of the early-20th century greats.
Nowadays, the Busch Trio regularly appears on major stages and festivals throughout Europe and the US. They have been described by The Times as having ‘effortless musicianship’, by The Gramophone as a ‘true delight from start to finish’ and by the Süddeutsche Zeitung as ‘the leading piano trio of their generation’. The trio have been recognised for their work and recordings, receiving important accolades and awards in the Netherlands, UK, Germany, Belgium and France.
Record label Alpha Classics has shown remarkable trust in the trio, committing them to long-term contracts early in their career. Together they have released notable recordings of the complete works of Dvorak on four CDs, the complete trios and Trout quintet by Schubert on two CDs as well as a recent CD of works by Ravel & Shostakovich. The future of this fruitful collaboration is the recording of the complete trios by Beethoven to be released on five CDs over the coming years.
Today the Busch Trio members live between Amsterdam and Brussels and continue to maintain their extremely intensive rehearsal and performance schedule. In the coming seasons they look forward to returning to halls across Europe including Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, London’s Wigmore Hall and Paris’s Théâtre de Champs-Elysées as well as numerous tours of the US, Canada and Israel.
