This concert is another in our series ‘Stars of the Future’, in which we showcase younger musicians who are at the beginning of what will surely be considerable careers as performing artists.  Ruiqi, Zhijing and Reynold are all outstanding students from London’s Royal College of Music and have already gained considerable experience playing as a trio.  Friendships formed at university often prove to last a lifetime and there is no doubting the unusual connection between these three virtuosic young performers.

The lutenist Toby Carr is already being recognised as a remarkable talent and his first CD is currently available, a collaboration with Helen Charlston, the mezzo-soprano who gave such a wonderful performance of Schumann’s Dichterliebe for us last November.  He has devised a new programme called Softest Thunder, which we will present in the candlelit Wenlock Chapel of St Mary’s, demanding as it does an intense and intimate atmosphere.  We hope also to include a new version of a work of my own called The Sound of Rhubarb Growing, an essay in gentle, perfect, tiny sounds…  This promises to be a remarkable evening.

Richard Sisson (Chair of Luton Music)