NYOS 2024 | Meet The Artists | The Amatis Trio

We are thrilled to welcome The Amatis Trio to join the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland as part of our Summer 2024 concerts

The Amatis Trio was founded in Amsterdam in 2014 and is now based in Salzburg, Austria. German violinist Lea Hausmann, British cellist Samuel Shepherd, and Dutch-Chinese pianist Mengjie Han are celebrated for their energy, insight, creativity, communication and passion. The trio is regarded as one of the leading ensembles of its generation. 

The Amatis Trio has performed in 43 countries across 5 continents and has won many major international competitions and awards. They are former BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists and were selected as ECHO Rising Stars (European Concert Hall Organisation) by Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Köln Philharmonie, Festspielhaus Baden-Baden and Dortmund Konzerthaus. The trio has been awarded some of the most prestigious music prizes from around the world including the Kersjesprijs of the Netherlands and the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship award. 

In addition to performances in many of the worlds leading festivals including the BBC Proms, Verbier Festival, Switzerland and the Edinburgh International Festival, the trio are regularly invited as soloists in triple concerto repertoire, appearing with orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Wales and Frankfurt Museums Orchestra. They are currently 'Artists in Residence at Cambridge University and appointees of the Irene R Miller Piano Trio Residency at the University of Toronto, Canada. 

The Amatis Trio released their debut CD on AVI Records featuring the music of Enescu, Ravel and Britten. The disc received high praise amongst critics and earned the ensemble inclusion in Gramophone Magazines 'Artists to Watch`. 

Their strong commitment to contemporary music led the trio to form the ‘Dutch Piano Trio Composition Prize’, aimed at encouraging young composers to expand the piano trio repertoire. Since it's inception they have commissioned and premiered 15 contemporary pieces, most recently Moorlands, a work by Swedish composer Andrea Tarrodi. This piece is being developed further for the worldwide premiere performance as part of the new comission for NYOS in 2024. 

Since 2015 the trio has worked intensively with Wolfgang Redik (Vienna Piano Trio) and Rainer Schmidt (Hagen Quartet). Other important musical influences include Lukas Hagen, Hatto Beyerle, the Trio Jean Paul, Fabio Bidini, Ilya Grubert, Anner Bylsma, Ivry Gitlis, Christian Schuster, Ib Hausmann, Imre Rohmann, Menahem Pressler, and Sir András Schiff. Prize-winning accolades include the 2018 Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition, the 2018 International Joseph Haydn Competition in Vienna, the International Joseph Joachim Competition in Weimar, Germany. 

Both Lea and Sam play on very fine Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume instruments kindly loaned by generous patrons through the Beares International Violin Society. 

 “What a joy it is to play music! Every day we feel lucky to be in a profession where there’s no finishing line. It allows us to continually push and explore until a new horizon appears. It is our responsibility to convey the love we have for music to our audiences. When this music then touches our listeners, we know we are travelling along the right path.” 

You can discover more about The Amatis Trio by visiting the website, or by following them on social media.

> Website: https://www.amatistrio.com/
> Instagram: @amatispianotrio

Photography: © Foppe Schut