







Omri Epstein – piano
Mathieu van Bellen – violin
Ori Epstein – cello
After attending a string quartet performance, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote: (….), one hears four intelligent people exchanging views (…). Indeed, the essence of chamber music is communication. We have known this for a long time; even from before the time Goethe wrote that lofty phrase. Small wonder, then, that encounters in the world of chamber music often develop into friendships. The reverse is far more unusual: when, from among a group of school friends with a range of everyday hobbies, a chamber music ensemble emerges that reaches the highest level on the international stage in very little time.
This is how the Busch Trio came into existence, an ensemble which in recent years has developed into one of the leading piano trios. Mathieu van Bellen (violin), Ori Epstein (cello) and Omri Epstein (piano) met in London during their studies at the Royal College of Music. They became friends and, before long, were inseparable. They played football, listened to music together – and played music together. Right from the start, all their conversations revolved around music.
Mathieu, Ori and Omri won several prizes in international competitions as soloists and graduated from renowned academies of music in Britain. Their shared passion for music however remained their strongest bond. ‘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 from 2012.
Its name, ‘Busch Trio’, is derived first and foremost from Mathieu’s violin, an ‘ex-Adolf Busch’ G.B. Guadagnini (Turin, 1783), but also from Adolf Busch, the shining example for the young trio. We should also note that in 1935, violinist Adolf Busch, together with Rudolf Serkin (piano) and Hermann Busch (cello), made a legendary recording of Schubert’s Piano Trio in E-flat major – one of the most important works in the literature for trios, and a core piece in the Bush Trio’s repertoire.
Great names such as the teacher of chamber music Eberhard Feltz, pianist Sir András Schiff and het Artemis Quartet have also contributed to the development of the Bush Trio, as has the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Brussels. The Busch Trio members have now reached a stage in which they primarily learn from each other, during joint rehearsals that largely consist of sharing thoughts and views about music.
With their ‘effortless musicianship’ (The Times) and great emotional sensitivity ascribed to the Busch Trio by the press and their loyal fans, these three musicians are guided by the head as much as the heart when playing music, being very much aware of what they are doing. ‘The more you know, the more freedom you feel’ is one of the key maxims of the ensemble.
What is also unusual is that the Busch Trio, while not strictly part of the historically informed performance movement, do play on instruments with gut strings. They decided to do so because gut strings provide a different type of articulation and a better sound, which cannot be achieved using modern metal strings due to the greater pressure they require.
Today the Busch Trio members live in Amsterdam; their extremely intensive rehearsal practice would simply be impossible otherwise. ‘We live like monks in a monastery ‘, they confess. ‘We don’t do this for ourselves, really, but for our best friends’ – comments such as these reflect both their serious attitude and their sense of togetherness. That should be taken quite literally: the Busch Trio also go on holiday together and spend a lot of time together when they are not playing music.
Inspired in part by the monastery metaphor, the trio has recently moved into the 450 square metre Schuurkerk in Zaandam (near Amsterdam), a former clandestine church. Together with violinist Maria Milstein, the trio transformed this place of religious worship into a centre for chamber music and gave it a new name: MuziekHaven. In addition to offering rehearsal space, the centre serves as a venue for concerts that is also available to other ensembles.
Since its formation in 2012, the Busch Trio has regularly appeared on major stages and festivals throughout Europe. Their many years of fruitful collaboration with the Alpha Label have resulted in a series of four CDs covering the complete works of Antonin Dvorák for piano and strings.
In 2016 the Busch Trio received the most significant prize for musicians in the Netherlands: the Kersjes Prize. They have carried off several other international awards since. Last year they were the winners of the 2018 NORDMETALL-Ensemble Prize at the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival.
The Busch Trio has played with the Warsaw Symphony Orchestra led by Karina Canellakis, and with Michael Collins, Bruno Giuranna, Gregor Sigl and Miguel da Silva.
Highlights during the 2019-20 season include concerts at the Konzerthaus Berlin, Wigmore Hall in London, the Mozartfest in Würzburg, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Heidelberger Frühling and the Liederhalle Stuttgart.
October 23, 2020: Busch Trio releases Schubert: Trio Op. 100; Sonatensatz & Notturno
After its recording of Dvořák’s complete chamber music with piano, the Busch Trio now tackles three works by Franz Schubert, including his famous Piano Trio no.2.
Source:https://outhere-music.com/en/albums/Schubert-Trio-Opus-100-Sonatensatz-Notturno-ALPHA632
Busch Trio’s Schubert: Worthy heirs to their elders
They offer us here a first-rate technical achievement: clarity, accuracy, balance … We feel the musicians sure of their stylistic choice, made of elegance, of sobriety in the effects, but of commitment in the expression. Adolf Busch would certainly be proud to have lent them his name.
– Pierre Carrive, Crescendo Magazine – Related Link
Dvořák Piano Quintets & Bagatelles: Busch Trio, Maria Milstein, Miguel da Silva
“They play the Second Quintet with jewelled precision, full of vivid beauty, thrilling, with snapping rhythms and languid melodic flow. Cellist Ori Epstein shapes the opening melody beautifully, and violist Miguel da Silva is equally fine in both the first and second movements when given his moments in the limelight.”
– Tim Homfray, The Strad – Related Link
Youthful Busch Trio delights at Phillips Collection
“In a Sunday afternoon recital presented by the Phillips Collection and the Belgian Embassy at the International Student House of Washington, D.C., this young piano trio demonstrated both technical chops and remarkable musical maturity…the virtuosic achievement was thrilling, and the audience’s enthusiastic response elicited a Dvorak encore, the second movement of the “Dumky” trio.”
– Charles T. Downey, The Washington Post – Related Link
Busch Trio at Wigmore Hall
The Busch Ensemble is a piano trio bursting with far more than promise. […] All players are within their twenties […] but the group already plays as though musically joined at the hip – something to be expected with Epstein and his older brother Omri, the group’ marvellously sensitive pianist. Even during the modest curtain raiser, Schubert’s Sonatensatz of 1812, I quickly lost count of his nimble and subtle variations in touch, though the range only grew wider with the extra firepower summoned for Tchaikovsky’s epic Piano Trio or Beethoven’s D major trio, the ‘Ghost’. […] Beyond the playsers’ individual gifts, what impressed most was the group’s effortless musicianship and unity of thoughtand attack. The threesome even seemed to be breahting in synch.
– Geoff Brown, The Times – Related Link
Review: Dvořák Piano Trios Op. 21 & 26
“The Busch are brilliantly alive to its uneasy qualities, and the slowed-down version of the main theme is ardently played by cellist Ori Epstein, while their Trio section has a delightful airiness to it. If in the finale they aren’t quite a match for the Florestan, who are irresistibly light and playful, this is still an impressive achievement.”
– Harriet Smith, Gramophone – Related Link





19-20 Season Sample Programs
-
Program 1:
Schubert Notturno “Adagio” in E-flat Major, D 897
Busch Piano Trio No. 1 a minor, Op.15
Brahms Piano Trio B Major, Op. 8Program 2:
Mozart Piano Trio G Major, KV 564
Mark-Anthony Turnage (*1960) I. Slow Pavane,
II. Fast Stomp, III. Slow Procession
Brahms Piano Trio in B Major, Op. 8Program 3:
Schubert Notturno “Adagio” in E-flat Major, D 897
Beethoven Piano Trio in E-flat Major, Op. 70, No. 2
Dvorák Piano Trio in e minor, Op. 90 “Dumky”Program 4:
Beethoven Piano Trio in B Major, Op. 11 “Gassenhauer”
Brahms Piano Trio in c minor, Op. 101
-Intermission-
Dvorák Piano Trio in E-flat Major, Op. 87Program 5:
Haydn Piano Trio in E Major, Hob XV: 28
Ravel Piano Trio in a minor
-Intermission-
Rachmaninoff Trio élégiaque No. 2 in d minor, Op. 9
20-21 Season Sample Programs
-
Program 1
Schumann:Phantasiestucke, Op. 88
Arensky: Piano Trio No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 32
Loevendie: Ackermusik for Piano Trio
Mendelssohn: Piano Trio No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 49Program 2
Haydn: Piano Trio No. 41 in E-flat Minor
“Jacob’s Dream”
Schonberg: Verklarte Nacht, Op. 4
(Arr. Steuermann)
Schubert: Piano Trio No. 2 in E-flat Major, Op. 100Program 3
Beethoven: Piano Trio in D Major, Op. 70 No. 1 “Ghost Trio”
Toru Takemitsu: Between Tides
Tchaikovsky: Piano Trio in A Minor, Op. 50Program 4
Haydn: Piano Trio No. 45 in E-Flat Major
Beethoven: Piano Trio No. 4 in B Flat Major, Op. 11 “Gassenhauer Trio”
Schubert: Piano Trio No. 1 in B-flat Major, Op. 99
19-20 Season Sample Programs
Program 1:
Schubert Notturno “Adagio” in E-flat Major, D 897
Busch Piano Trio No. 1 a minor, Op.15
Brahms Piano Trio B Major, Op. 8Program 2:
Mozart Piano Trio G Major, KV 564
Mark-Anthony Turnage (*1960) I. Slow Pavane,
II. Fast Stomp, III. Slow Procession
Brahms Piano Trio in B Major, Op. 8Program 3:
Schubert Notturno “Adagio” in E-flat Major, D 897
Beethoven Piano Trio in E-flat Major, Op. 70, No. 2
Dvorák Piano Trio in e minor, Op. 90 “Dumky”Program 4:
Beethoven Piano Trio in B Major, Op. 11 “Gassenhauer”
Brahms Piano Trio in c minor, Op. 101
-Intermission-
Dvorák Piano Trio in E-flat Major, Op. 87Program 5:
Haydn Piano Trio in E Major, Hob XV: 28
Ravel Piano Trio in a minor
-Intermission-
Rachmaninoff Trio élégiaque No. 2 in d minor, Op. 9
20-21 Season Sample Programs
Program 1
Schumann:Phantasiestucke, Op. 88
Arensky: Piano Trio No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 32
Loevendie: Ackermusik for Piano Trio
Mendelssohn: Piano Trio No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 49Program 2
Haydn: Piano Trio No. 41 in E-flat Minor
“Jacob’s Dream”
Schonberg: Verklarte Nacht, Op. 4
(Arr. Steuermann)
Schubert: Piano Trio No. 2 in E-flat Major, Op. 100Program 3
Beethoven: Piano Trio in D Major, Op. 70 No. 1 “Ghost Trio”
Toru Takemitsu: Between Tides
Tchaikovsky: Piano Trio in A Minor, Op. 50Program 4
Haydn: Piano Trio No. 45 in E-Flat Major
Beethoven: Piano Trio No. 4 in B Flat Major, Op. 11 “Gassenhauer Trio”
Schubert: Piano Trio No. 1 in B-flat Major, Op. 99
Audio
Dvorak: Piano Trio No. 3 in F Minor – I. Allegro ma non troppo

Dvorak: Piano Trio No. 4 in E Minor “Dumky” – I. Lento maestoso

Piano Quintet No. 2 In A Major, Op. 81: I. Allegro Ma Non Tanto

Bagatelles, Op. 47: I. Allegro Scherzando

Documents
Short Biography
“A piano trio bursting with far more than promise.” — TIMES (London)
Omri Epstein, piano
Mathieu van Bellen, violin
Ori Epstein, cello
Named after the legendary violinist Adolf Busch, this young Netherlands-based ensemble has emerged as one of the leading piano trios among the new generation. Winners of the 2012 Royal Overseas League Competition, the trio has garnered several prizes at international competitions including the Salieri-Zinetti Competition and the Pinerolo Competition in Italy and the International Schumann Chamber Music Award in Frankfurt. Pianist Omri Epstein, violinist Mathieu van Bellen, and cellist Ori Epstein have all won prizes in solo international competitions. The trio has received guidance from distinguished artists such as Gary Hoffman and Andras Schiff and are currently mentored by members of the Artemis Quartet at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Brussels, where they are trio in residence.
Full Biography
Omri Epstein – piano
Mathieu van Bellen – violin
Ori Epstein – cello
After attending a string quartet performance, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote: (….), one hears four intelligent people exchanging views (…). Indeed, the essence of chamber music is communication. We have known this for a long time; even from before the time Goethe wrote that lofty phrase. Small wonder, then, that encounters in the world of chamber music often develop into friendships. The reverse is far more unusual: when, from among a group of school friends with a range of everyday hobbies, a chamber music ensemble emerges that reaches the highest level on the international stage in very little time.
This is how the Busch Trio came into existence, an ensemble which in recent years has developed into one of the leading piano trios. Mathieu van Bellen (violin), Ori Epstein (cello) and Omri Epstein (piano) met in London during their studies at the Royal College of Music. They became friends and, before long, were inseparable. They played football, listened to music together – and played music together. Right from the start, all their conversations revolved around music.
Mathieu, Ori and Omri won several prizes in international competitions as soloists and graduated from renowned academies of music in Britain. Their shared passion for music however remained their strongest bond. ‘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 from 2012.
Its name, ‘Busch Trio’, is derived first and foremost from Mathieu’s violin, an ‘ex-Adolf Busch’ G.B. Guadagnini (Turin, 1783), but also from Adolf Busch, the shining example for the young trio. We should also note that in 1935, violinist Adolf Busch, together with Rudolf Serkin (piano) and Hermann Busch (cello), made a legendary recording of Schubert’s Piano Trio in E-flat major – one of the most important works in the literature for trios, and a core piece in the Bush Trio’s repertoire.
Great names such as the teacher of chamber music Eberhard Feltz, pianist Sir András Schiff and het Artemis Quartet have also contributed to the development of the Bush Trio, as has the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Brussels. The Busch Trio members have now reached a stage in which they primarily learn from each other, during joint rehearsals that largely consist of sharing thoughts and views about music.
With their ‘effortless musicianship’ (The Times) and great emotional sensitivity ascribed to the Busch Trio by the press and their loyal fans, these three musicians are guided by the head as much as the heart when playing music, being very much aware of what they are doing. ‘The more you know, the more freedom you feel’ is one of the key maxims of the ensemble.
What is also unusual is that the Busch Trio, while not strictly part of the historically informed performance movement, do play on instruments with gut strings. They decided to do so because gut strings provide a different type of articulation and a better sound, which cannot be achieved using modern metal strings due to the greater pressure they require.
Today the Busch Trio members live in Amsterdam; their extremely intensive rehearsal practice would simply be impossible otherwise. ‘We live like monks in a monastery ‘, they confess. ‘We don’t do this for ourselves, really, but for our best friends’ – comments such as these reflect both their serious attitude and their sense of togetherness. That should be taken quite literally: the Busch Trio also go on holiday together and spend a lot of time together when they are not playing music.
Inspired in part by the monastery metaphor, the trio has recently moved into the 450 square metre Schuurkerk in Zaandam (near Amsterdam), a former clandestine church. Together with violinist Maria Milstein, the trio transformed this place of religious worship into a centre for chamber music and gave it a new name: MuziekHaven. In addition to offering rehearsal space, the centre serves as a venue for concerts that is also available to other ensembles.
Since its formation in 2012, the Busch Trio has regularly appeared on major stages and festivals throughout Europe. Their many years of fruitful collaboration with the Alpha Label have resulted in a series of four CDs covering the complete works of Antonin Dvorák for piano and strings.
In 2016 the Busch Trio received the most significant prize for musicians in the Netherlands: the Kersjes Prize. They have carried off several other international awards since. Last year they were the winners of the 2018 NORDMETALL-Ensemble Prize at the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival.
The Busch Trio has played with the Warsaw Symphony Orchestra led by Karina Canellakis, and with Michael Collins, Bruno Giuranna, Gregor Sigl and Miguel da Silva.
Highlights during the 2019-20 season include concerts at the Konzerthaus Berlin, Wigmore Hall in London, the Mozartfest in Würzburg, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Heidelberger Frühling and the Liederhalle Stuttgart.