Chetham's School of Music

The Benyounes Piano Trio was formed in 2023 by some of the UK’s most experienced chamber players. Their performances have been praised for their ‘musical integrity and sparkling ensemble’. The trio is committed to performing the very finest music from the classical tradition with a hunger to discover new works that challenge both themselves and their audiences.

The programme at the Stoller Hall reflects this with two of the very greatest chamber trios by Ravel and Schubert being performed alongside Diedre Gribbin’s captivating trio ‘Did you see an angel also?’

ZAHRA BENYOUNES

Zahra was the first violinist and founding member of the prize-winning Benyounes Quartet with whom she performed and recorded for 16 years. With the quartet she performed internationally at leading venues and festivals including the Wigmore Hall, Vienna Konzerthaus, Verbier, Aldeburgh Festivals and  multiple radio broadcasts. The quartet’s diverse discography including their most recent album ‘Innovators’ for Champs Hill Records which received widespread critical acclaim.

Further experience as a chamber musician has led to collaborations with internationally renowned artists such as Nicky Spence, Tim Ridout, David Cohen, Awadagin Pratt and Julian Bliss, and as soloist she has performed with the BBC Singers live on Radio 3. With the Benyounes, Zahra has premiered numerous works for string quartet by pioneering contemporary composers such as Paul Ruders, Philip Cashian, Simon Bainbridge and John Woolrich.

Zahra led the Chineke! Orchestra’s 2021 BBC Prom and the re-opening of the Royal Festival Hall post lockdown with Sheku Kanneh-Mason as soloist. She has appeared as guest principal with leading UK ensembles including Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Philharmonia, Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, BBCNOW, Riot Ensemble, Aurora and 12 Ensemble. Zahra regularly performs and records with London Contemporary Orchestra and has featured on film soundtracks including Matrix Resurrections, Phantom Thread, Alien Covenant and on commercial albums by Taylor Swift, Frank Ocean and Radiohead.

Zahra formed the Benyounes Trio in 2023 with pianist Jeremy Young and cellist Eve-Marie Carravassilis.

Her tutors have included Gabor Takacs-Nagy, Maciej Rakowski and Quatuor Ebene

Zahra’s surname is of Arabic origin. She plays on a beautiful 1682 Nicolo Amati kindly made available to her from the Boucher Trust.

JEREMY YOUNG

Jeremy Young’s international career as a soloist and collaborative pianist has seen him performing in venues such as the Lincoln Center (New York), Herbst Theater (San Fransisco), Esplanade Hall (Singapore), Almaty Concert Hall (Kazakhstan), Shenzhen Concert Hall (China), Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts, The Arts House (Singapore), Hsingchu Concert Hall (Taiwan), Bridgewater Hall (Manchester) and London’s Wigmore Hall.

The 23-24 season includes solo recitals in North America, chamber performances in Asia with Alezander Sitkovetsky and Liwei Qin and performances in the UK at Bridgewater Hall, Conway Hall and the Stoller Hall.

As a collaborative pianist Jeremy has partnered many of the worlds most distinguished musicians including Olivier Charlier, Mark Padmore, Julian Bliss, Peter Cropper, Roderick Williams, and Karine Georgian. He has performed with ensembles including Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Manchester Camerata, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Psappha and Piano Circus, and alongside world leading string quartets such as the Elias, Talich, Heath, Benyounes and Quatour Voce. Jeremy is former pianist of the Manchester Piano Trio and the Ovid Ensemble.

Jeremy has broadcast for BBC Radio 3, Classic FM, RTÉ Lyric FM, BBCTV, Channel 4 and radio in USA, China, Russia and much of Europe. His critically acclaimed recordings are available on EMI Asia, Decca, Sony, Hyperion, Meridian, Signum, Champs Hill, Somm and Naxos. His playing can also be heard on TV and films including recent releases such as ‘Supernova’ and ‘Munich-The Edge of War’.

Jeremy Young studied at the Purcell School of Music the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal Northern College of Music. His teachers included Christopher Elton, Frank Wibaut, Vladimir Ovchinikov and Menahem Pressler.

He is currently Head of Chamber Music and Professor of Piano at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester UK.

Ève-Marie Caravassilis

French-Guadeloupean-Greek cellist Ève-Marie Caravassilis became a member of the LSO in 2013, following seven years with the acclaimed French ensemble and BBC New Generation Artists Quatuor PSOPHOS, collaborating with renowned artists as Alina Ibragimova, Imogen Cooper, Renaud & Gautier Capucon, and the Ebene Quartet. She regularly performs as Guest Principal with numerous orchestras, including the English National Opera and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.

She joined the Benyounes Piano Trio in 2023

Ève-Marie studied with Philippe Muller at the Conservatoire National de Musique de Paris and Jens Peter Maintz at the Universität der Künste in Berlin, obtaining the highest distinctions for her Master and KonzertExam recitals. During her studies, she took part in masterclasses with Mstislav Rostropovitch, Yo-Yo Ma, David Geringas and Jerome Pernoo.

She plays an anonymous French 19th-century cello, generously entrusted to her by the Fonds Instrumental Francais.