Directory
The Amalie Trio
![The Amalie Trio](/c/directory/the-amalie-trio-2024070921314102.png)
"Terrific, well thought our programme - really well balanced. Bravo!"
"The whole event was a joy - the repertoire, the location and the brilliant performance"
Trio - Vocal & Instrumental
Instrumentation
- Catherine Backhouse - Voice
- Alexa Beattie - Viola
- Elspeth Wyllie - Piano
Repertoire
Bolcom, Let Evening Come
Brahms, Zwei Gesänge
Duke, Three Sonnets by Edna St Vincent Millay
Loeffler, Quatre Poèmes Op.5
Rubbra, Two Sonnets by William Alabaster
Searle, Postcards (new commission)
Beamish, viola sonata (inspired by Clara Schumann)
Clarke, I’ll bid my heart be still
Dring, Seven Shakespeare Songs
Falla, Suite populaire Espagnole
Macmillan, Three Scottish Songs
Schumann, Frauenliebe und leben
Britten, A New Year Carol
Dowland, If my complaints could passions move
Britten, Lachrymae for viola and piano
Maxwell Davies, Farewell to Stromness
Biography
Three outstanding Scottish musicians, Catherine Backhouse, Alexa Beattie and Elspeth Wyllie unite as the Amalie Trio to champion repertoire for voice, viola and piano. Named after Amalie Joachim, a colleague and friend of Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms, the trio brings freshness and life to a large and flexible repertoire. Individually endorsed by the Britten-Pears Young Artists Scheme, the Dewar Arts Awards and Park Lane Group Awards, they have appeared live on Classics Unwrapped for BBC Radio Scotland, and recorded for Divine Arts Records. Coached by cellist William Conway (Hebrides Ensemble) and song pianist Eugene Asti, they have performed for Haddington and Linlithgow music clubs, at Edinburgh and Glasgow Universities, and on the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. In London, performances include at Milton Court, the Athenaeum, The Forge, and Kensington and Chelsea Music Society. Alongside their Scottish performances, the Amalie Trio have presented numerous interactive performance workshops to primary schools in East Lothian, funded by Creative Scotland. To date, they have enjoyed exploring the skills involved in making chamber music and the drama of their repertoire with over 2000 children.
The ensemble feature songs & duos alongside trios, allowing for varied and thought-provoking programmes that are often tightly themed. For example, connections between performers and composers: Amalie Joachim/Brahms/the Schumanns/John Duke, or John Dowland/Benjamin Britten/Frank Bridge. The Amalie Trio are also honoured to have worked with and received repertoire from three Scottish composers: Oliver Searle, Tom Wilson and Sally Beamish.