Part of the Roman River Festival 2024 - See all concerts here.

We join the Roman River Festival's most established trio of performers, the composer and pianist Huw Watkins, Wild Arts' Artistic Director, Orlando Jopling on cello, and sparkling violinist Sijie Chen, for an evening of exhilarating trios in one of Colchester's most loved churches, St. James the Great on East Hill.

The concert opens with the post-romantic atmosphere full of poetry and light created by Mel Bonis, a women composer of whom Saint-Saëns once exclaimed, “I never imagined a woman could write such music!” and whose once neglected work is now recognised as part of the 20th Century canon.

We follow with Huw Watkins' own Piano Trio no.2, a work of four skilfully linked movements which take us on an absorbing emotional journey and bring a romantic musical sensibility into the modern world. We then dive into the mesmeric serenity of Schubert's Nocturne, a single movement that we feel isn't performed as frequently as it most deservedly merits, and one of many written in the final, prolific year of the composer's life.

The second half of the evening ends with Ravel's trio, his only work for the genre and a piece which heralded the start of a new musical era with its indescribably fresh voice even though a hundred years have passed since its debut. Written in haste during the outbreak of WWI "with the sureness and lucidity of a madman" as the composer prepared to join up, it has a texture of sound unusually rich for a chamber work and drew inspiration from a wide variety of sources including Basque dance and Malaysian poetry. It may be of interest to learn that the first movement was used extensively in the stunning 1992 film about the relationship between a violin restorer and a violinist, Un cœur en hiver (A Heart in Winter), which many of you will have seen.

Spotlight performance

This concert includes a spotlight performance by 13-year-old pianist Sofiia Usmanova, winner of Colchester Rotary Club's Music Festival 'Musican of the Year' award. Already winning competitions in her native Ukraine before leaving for the UK in 2022, Sofiia's playing has featured on Classic FM. 

Mel Bonis Soir for Piano Trio, Op. 76

Schubert Notturno in E-flat major

Mel Bonis Matin for Piano Trio, Op. 76

Huw Watkins Piano Trio, no.2

INTERVAL

Maurice Ravel Piano Trio in A Minor

Doors open from 7.15 for 8pm start. Please allow ample time for parking. The concert will last approx. 1 hour 40 mins (incl. 20-minute interval)

Huw Watkins | piano
Sijie Chen | violin
Orlando Jopling | cello

Tickets £15 – £40

Reduced visibility seats available.

Photo by Lucy J Toms - Sijie Chen and Orlando Jopling 2023