“I found the Mosa Trio’s playing extremely compelling, imaginative and vivid. Their music-making is rhetorically gripping, stylistically varied and sensitively shaped. I am fortunate enough to hear many wonderful chamber ensembles, but I find it very rare to hear one that sounds as distinct and personal as the Mosa Trio.” — Mark Steinberg, Brentano String Quartet —

This is a very striking description of the Mosa Trio by Mark Steinberg (Brentano Quartet). Because of the almost inexhaustible energy the members of the young Dutch-Belgian piano trio put into understanding their repertoire, their performances comprise great expression, inner depth and a homogeneous interpretation. The trio displays this in a broad repertoire, ranging from early classicism to contemporary music, showing great interest in the performance practice of these different style periods. As a result, the trio’s performances stand out not only for their technical mastery, but also for their versatility.

2020-2021

With this season coming to a close, we've updated the agenda for 2022-2023. You'll find us throughout The Netherlands with some few stops in Belgium as well. We'll also be performing Beethovens Tripel Concerto with the Bergens Symfonie Orkest in November. In short: we hope to see you again some time soon!

Mosa Trio

Thanks to their characteristic way of playing, “it’s always a great pleasure for the audience to attend one of their concerts” (Vincent Coq, Trio Wanderer). The trio likes to challenge their audience by programming different, contrasting styles in one concert, so that the audience not only hears music they know and love, but also discovers new or unknown music. These exciting choices in programming make a concert by the Mosa Trio a unique experience. Or, as Festival Classique wrote in 2013: “Whether the music sounds playful or musing, the Mosa Trio pulls the audience into the music, until we can almost feel the notes. The Mosa Trio excels in creating a story for the audience.” The personal way in which the trio talks about the musical works, also contributes to creating this story. Especially when performing contemporary pieces, this brings beautiful and often new insights to the audience.

The international career of the Mosa Trio took off with prizes at prestigious competitions such as the 14th Concours International de Musique de Chambre de Lyon (2018, FR.), 31st FNAPEC Concours européen Musique d’Ensemble (2017, FR), the International Orlando Competition (2015, NL), the ‘Supernova – the Future Sound of Classical Music’ (2014, BE), the Concours International de Musique de Chambre d’Illzach (2013, FR) and the Storioni Ensemble Competition (2012, NL). The Mosa Trio was a semi-finalist of the prestigious Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition (2018, AU).

Since then, the Mosa Trio has played in major venues in the Low Countries, including the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Muziekgebouw Eindhoven, and BOZAR Brussels. International tours took them to concerts in Italy, France, the United Kingdom, Austria, Luxembourg, Australia and the People’s Republic of China. In 2017, the Mosa Trio featured as Ensemble in Residence at the world-famous Piano Festival in La Roque d’Anthéron. In 2018, the trio performed Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with the Orchestre de l’Opéra de Lyon under Bernhard Kontarsky.

“I listened to the Mosa Trio with the utmost pleasure: three young instrumentalists who master their craft and play together with passion. Not only their technical level and their storytelling, but also the interest they display towards different style periods makes their interpretations interesting.” — Jacques Ogg, clavecinist en artistiek directeur Lyra Baroque Orchestra —

The Mosa Trio has featured in dozens of live radio and television broadcastings, including a concert recording for the program ‘Generatie K’ on Canvas (VRT) and recordings for Klara during the Klarafestival and for Radio 4 in the Concertgebouw Amsterdam. In 2018, the trio released it’s debut cd ‘Portraits’ on the label Antarctica Records.

Not only do the members of the Mosa Trio share their passion for classical music on stage, they also regularly teach in masterclasses and workshops at e.g. the Sichuan Conservatory of Music (China) and the Orlando Festival Ensemble Course.

The name of the Mosa Trio is derived from Mosa Trajectum, the Latin denomination of the city of Maastricht. The trio was first coached at the Conservatory of Maastricht by Henk Guittart (Schönberg Quartet) and Tonie Ehlen. It then went on to study in Paris with the Trio Wanderer and thanks to the European Chamber Music Academy at institutions like the Conservatoire National Supérieur in Paris and the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. The Mosa Trio attended masterclasses by Menahem Pressler (Beaux Arts Trio), Mark Steinberg (Brentano Quartet), Johannes Meissl (Artis Quartet), Hatto Beyerle (Alban Berg Quartet), Mark Steinberg (Brentano Quartet) and Avedis Kouyoumdjian.

“I highly recommend the Mosa Trio. My colleagues of Trio Wanderer had the opportunity to hear them in numerous occasions. They have a very high standard of academic achievement as well as superb artistic and technical qualities. It is always a great experience for the audience to attend one of their concerts.” — Vincent Coq, pianist Trio Wanderer —

Usually, our concerts take place in famous venues or beautiful monumental buildings. However, we also find it a very exciting challenge to bring our music to a totally different kind of audience. We brought some extra spice to a fashion show of the Dutch fashion label studioRUIG by playing Shostakovich’ 2nd piano trio and our recording of Sam Wamper’s ‘Portrait of Light’ featured in the highly imaginative animation ‘The Miraculous Adventure Machine’ by Xander Wiersma, which was on display in ‘de Kunsthal’, a museum in Rotterdam.

In recent years we have broadened our repertoire not only with great classical masterpieces, but also with new, contemporary music. We’ve had great fun playing trios by Roel van Oosten (1992) and Sam Wamper (2015). Our performance of Wamper’s ‘Portrait of Light’ even got us the prize for the most beautiful performance of the obligatory contemporary piece at the International Orlando Competition. In 2016, we commissioned a trio by the young Flemish composer Mathias Coppens: a beautiful piece, full of personality, written especially for us. Great!

As an ensemble, we have a very intensive way of working. We study our parts and analyse the full score. We play our parts for and with each other, looking for a homogenous and transparent sound, but always respecting our three individual characters. We talk about the music, discuss different ideas and sometimes even quarrel about them. Thus, we make the music our own in such a way that we are able to perform in total freedom. The fact that somehow, our audience feels this, gives us great satisfaction.

All three of us have very different characters and qualities and somehow, these complement and balance each other perfectly. Bram has an exceptionally good ear: he knows exactly what he hears and what he wants to hear in the music. He’s always looking for an emotionally honest way of making music and a transparency in sound for the ensemble. He’s a very vivid and agile person, but nevertheless he manages to always arrive too late! Paul may not seem the fastest of persons, but that’s only because he’s saving his energy: his reactions are second to none, probably through years of training in table tennis. Paul has an inexhaustible determination to master a piece both mentally and physically. He’ll always share his vision on our interpretation in a thoughtful way. Alexandra on the other hand is much more intuitive: she often follows her heart, rather then her mind. This might cause some serious talking, but it’s also often at the root of the most beautiful musical moments.

Throughout the nine years we’ve existed as an ensemble so far, our personal relationships have evolved from being good colleagues to being great friends. Not only during playing, but also very much besides playing, we always have huge fun. Actually, the Mosa Trio consists of Alexandra, Paul, Bram and a pile of games and although we make music together in the most harmonious of ways, when it comes to playing games it’s serious warfare. This keeps our relationships perfectly balanced. And talking about relationships, our two string players aren’t just good friends: they’re a couple as well.

We’re very grateful for so many beautiful moments the three of us have experienced. One of those definitely was the hug we got from Eric Heidsieck. This legendary French pianist was the chairman of the jury at the Concours International de Musique de Chambre d’Illzach. In competitions, juries often try to put emotions aside and listen from a distance, but our performance actually moved him to tears. For us as musicians, the greatest honour is to be able to move our audiences, whether they consist of musical novices, connoisseurs or even master pianists.

Musicians

After a few years of private lessons, Alexandra Van Beveren (1988, Belgium) began her studies at the Conservatory of Maastricht, the Netherlands with professor Maarten Veeze at the age of twelve where she graduated Bachelor in Music in 2010. She interrupted her studies in Maastricht for a Erasmus program with Giovanna Polacco at the Giusseppe Verdi Conservatoria di Milano.

In 2012 Alexandra graduated ‘Master in Performance’ with professor Simon Fischer at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London ‘with Distinction’. The study was, among others, made possible by scholarships including Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds & Rotary Belgium. At the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, she co-lead the orchestra led by Sir Collin David, James Gaffigan, a.o.

Over the years, Alexandra attended masterclasses with Thomas Brandis, Yaïr Kless, Liviu Prunaru, David Takeno and Zvi Zeitlin.

Alexandra was a multiple finalist of the Belgian national competition ‘Tenuto’ and twice a prizewinner at the Dutch competition Prinses Christina Concours. She was also a laureate of Dexia Classics and during the Forte Auditions (both in Belgium). In 2009, she won 1st prize with ‘Déli Flutequartet’ at the Concorso Internazionale di Musica da Camera in Milan, Italy.

Alexandra is a member of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and co-leads regularly the Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège. She works on a regular basis with Lahav Shani, Valery Gergiev, Yannick Nézet-Séguin and many more.

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Paul Stavridis (1990, Genk, Belgium) started playing the cello at the music school of Genk with Anthony Gröger at the age of 9. Since 2004 he had been part of the Young Talent Class in this school. In 2006 Paul started his study at the Conservatory of Maastricht with professor Mirel Iancovici. In 2014 he completed his Masters ‘cum laude’ with professor Mirel Iancovici and professor Marc Vossen in Maastricht.

At an early age Paul partcipated in the well-known chamber music festival of Kuhmo, Finland. He also attended many international masterclasses with among others Uzi Wiesel, Xenia Jankovic, Leonid Gorokhov and Wolfgang Boettcher.

In 2008 Paul performed with the Youth Orchestra of Limburg (Belgium) and in that same year he became a prize winner of Dexia Classics. In 2010 he won the Gold Medal with honours of the jury at the 27th Concours Luxembourgeois et Européen pour Jeunes Solistes. In May 2014, Paul performed the Rococo Variations by Tchaikovsky together with the Arka Symphony Orchestra. In February 2015, Paul won the audience award at the Forte Auditions (Belgium).

Since September 2016 on, Paul joined the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of Liège as co-principal cello. Furthermore he is an extra in the Royal Flemish Philharmonic, Brussels Philharmonic and the South Netherlands Philharmonic.

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Concert pianist Bram de Vree (1989, Valkenswaard, The Netherlands) regularly plays recitals in the Low Countries as well as around the globe. Especially as the pianist of the Mosa Trio he performs a lot. Bram made his solo debut at age thirteen with a piano concerto of Haydn. Since then he played with orchestras like the Orchestre de l'Opéra de Lyon, the Amman Symphony Orchestra, the Conservatory Orchestra Maastricht and the Maastricht University Orchestra. Bram played solo recitals in The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany and Greece.

Both as a soloist and with his trio Bram made dozens of live radio and television recordings in the Netherlands and abroad. In 2010 he released his debut solo album consisting of works by Beethoven and Schumann. In 2018 the Mosa Trio presented their internationally acclaimed CD Portraits in the Concertgebouw Amsterdam.

As a member of the Mosa Trio Bram has developed an international career after winning numerous prizes at competitions such as the Concours International de Musique de Chambre de Lyon (2018, FR), Fnapec (Paris, 2017), Supernova (Brussels, 2014), the Concours International de Musique de Chambre d’Illzach (2013, FR), the Storioni Competition (Den Bosch, 2012), the Music Award Maastricht (2010), the Prinses Christina Concours (2009) and the Jong Muziektalent Nederland (2006). Bram has been a jury member in various international (chamber) music competitions.

In 2013 Bram gained his Master’s Degree with a 10 with Honours at the Conservatory of Maastricht after following lessons with professors Tonie Ehlen and Håkon Austbø in Oslo. Furthermore he followed lessons and masterclasses with amongst others Menahem Pressler (Beaux Arts Trio), Hatto Beyerle (Alban Berg Quartet), Mark Steinberg (Brentano Quartet), Valentina Berman, Paolo Giacometti, Ronald Brautigam and Rian de Waal.

Bram has been teaching the piano at the Centrum voor Muziek en Dans in Valkenswaard since 2013. Furthermore he gave masterclasses and workshops at the Sichuan Conservatory of Music (China), de Orlando Festival and the Young Talent Class of the Conservatorium Maastricht. Since 2019 Bram is teaching master students of the Conservatorium Maastricht during their artistic research project. Since 2020 he is Coordinator of the Chamber Music Department at Conservatorium Maastricht.

Both Bram's Bachelor thesis ‘Beethoven: from manuscript to modern edition' and his Master thesis 'A living cadenza' were nominated for the EPTA Frans Schreuderprijs and were published in the Piano Bulletin of the European Piano Teachers Association. The Master thesis was also nominated for the ZUYD Thesis Award 2013.

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Agenda

13 October 2024, 11.00 — De Hofnar, Valkenswaard
L. van Beethoven - Piano Trio in D major, Op. 70 no. 1, 'Geister'
R. Schumann - Piano Trio no. 2 in F major, Op. 80
www.hofnar.nl

8 December 2024, 11.00 — Schouwburg Rex, Mol
L. van Beethoven - Piano Trio in Bb major, Op. 11 ‘Gassenhauer’
R. Schumann - Piano Trio no. 2 in F major, Op. 80
www.cultuurcentrummol.be

21 April 2025, 14.00 — Domus Dela, Eindhoven
L. van Beethoven - Piano Trio in Bb major, Op. 11 ‘Gassenhauer’
R. Schumann - Piano Trio no. 2 in F major, Op. 80
www.podiumklassiekeindhoven.nl

26 April 2025, 20.00 — O.L.V. van Fatima Kerk, Genk
L. van Beethoven - Triple Concerto in C major, Op. 56
with the Limburgs Kamerorkest lead by Ronny Ramaekers
www.hetlimburgskamerorkest.be

27 April 2025, 11.00 — O.L.V. van Fatima Kerk, Genk
L. van Beethoven - Triple Concerto in C major, Op. 56
with the Limburgs Kamerorkest lead by Ronny Ramaekers
www.hetlimburgskamerorkest.be

11 May 2025, 15.00 — De Hofnar, Valkenswaard
L. van Beethoven - Triple Concerto in C major, Op. 56
with the Valkenswaards Kamerorkest lead by Martijn Pepels
www.hofnar.nl

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