Tribute to nurses as Harrogate International Sunday Series gears up for next concert at Old Swan

The ensemble will launch their recital on Sunday, February 12 with Joan Trimble’s Phantasy Trio, which was written during the Second World War, in which she played an important role working fulltime as a nurse for the Red Cross.

Consisting of pianist Iain Burnside, violinist Michael Foyle and cellist Tim Hugh, Trio Balthasar is a new chamber group, committed to imaginative, diverse programming.

Since their launch last year at Wigmore Hall, the musicians have appeared at the City Music Foundation’s Wigmore Hall Gala, the Rye Festival and Petworth Festival.

Iain Burnside said: “The first piece we will be playing was written by Northern Irish composer, Joan Trimble, who in 1940 was doing wartime nursing on a full-time basis, when her composition teacher, Ralph Vaugh Williams, suggested she entered the Cobbett Prize for Chamber Music.

“The result, which was written in some ten days, was Phantasy Trio, which is an amazing, very condensed one movement, with which we will be opening our programme.”

The Trio will also play Brahms’ Trio No. 2 in C major, Haydn’s Trio in E minor and Debussy’s La Mer.

Hosted by Harrogate International Festivals and staged at 11am in the Old Swan Hotel, the Sunday Series “coffee concerts” have been an annual fixture on the town’s classical music calendar since 1991.

For further information about Harrogate International Sunday Series, and to book tickets, visit www.harrogateinternationalfestivals.com