Tickets for all future events are available here.

Sat 26 April DixieMix Jazz Band.  Downton Abbey Era Jazz evening

Sat 17 May Trio Lalique. Beethoven, Shostakovich, Smetana
Concert dedicated to Roy Abrams (1929 – 2019)

FRIDAY 6 June François PINEAU-BENOIS (violin), Adam Szokolay (piano) Beethoven – two sonatas, Borodin – Wild Polovtsian Dances.

SUN 6 July Village Fete at Swafield Hall . In aid of St.Nicholas, Swafield

Friday 26th Sept – SILENT MOVIE NIGHT with Bruce VOGT, piano (at St.Nicholas, Swafield).

Sat 6 Dec Candlelit Christmas Concert


DixieMix Jazz Band  

Downton Abbey Era Jazz

Saturday 19th April 2025, 7.30pm, St. Botolph’s Church, Trunch.

The Dixie Mix Jazz Band will again be opening the 2025 Season of Trunch Concerts with a new programme, dedicated to the Jazz Age. It was a period in the 1920s (often referred as the Roaring Twenties), when jazz music and dance styles gained worldwide popularity. Britain was wholly and willingly swept up in this cultural wave. No wonder that The Lotus Jazz clubis one of the important venues shown in Downton Abbey, its a place where the black jazz musician and singer Jack Ross performed, and where he met young Lady Rose. 

The DixieMix Jazz Band, one of the UK’s most engaging and successful jazz ensembles. “A wonderful night’s music and entertainment that we are reliving again and again…”. “Congratulations on a very successful evening’s entertainment, for me personally it brought back many happy memories…”. 

The band is a professional six piece, excelling with fresh arrangements of many jazz favourites. With the best jazz musicians in East Anglia, enthusiasm for traditional jazz and great humour, the DixieMix has gained national recognition, leading to a tour with Rod Stewart, TV appearances and multiple festival and theatre gigs.

Dixie Mix: 
Simon Nelson – cornet, trumpet, flugel horn and vocals
Chris Wigley – trombone and vocals
Karl Wirrmann – clarinet, alto sax, tenor sax
Kevin West – banjo, guitar, ukulele
Maurizio Borgna – double bass
Tony Wilkins – drums and vocals

 Guest pianist – Simon Brown

The concert will take  place in St. Botolph’s Church, Trunch. With a licensed bar. 

The number of places is limited. Pre-booking only. Tickets: £15 – adult, £7 – children.

Tickets are available online or by phoning 01692 402 624.

All proceeds will be donated to Trunch Church restoration projects.

Trio LALIQUE  

Beethoven,
Shostakovich, Smetana

Saturday 17th May 2025, 7.30pm, St. Botolph’s Church, Trunch

Concert dedicated to Roy Abrams (1929 – 2019)

Described as ‘superb’ and ‘sensational’, the Trio Lalique was founded in 2022 by pianist Ilya Kondratiev, violinist Yuri Kalnits and cellist Julia Morneweg, each already a renowned chamber musician in their own right. Their debut as a group in the prestigious Pharos Arts Foundation series in Nicosia (Cyprus) was praised for its virtuosity and musical artistry alike. 

Between them, they have performed as soloists and chamber musicians at many of the world’s greatest concert halls including London’s Southbank Centre, King’s Place, Zurich Tonhalle, Munich’s Gasteig, Suntory Hall and the Great Hall of Moscow Conservatoire as well as at major festivals.

PROGRAMME:
Beethoven (1770 – 1827) – Piano Trio in E flat Major Op. 1 No. 1

Interval
Shostakovich (1906-1975) – Piano Trio No. 1 Op. 8 
Smetana (1824-1884)  – Piano Trio in G Minor Op. 15 

Violinist Yuri Kalnits

A recipient of two prestigious Diapason d’Or awards for his recording of Weinberg’s Violin Sonatas Yuri Kalnits was described by reviewers as ‘an interpreter of the highest order’. He has participated in festivals throughout the world such as Festival Musicales Internationales Guil-Durance (France), Young Artist Peninsula Music Festival (USA), Festival Cziffra (France), Waterford International Music Festival (Ireland), Pharos Trust Festival (Cyprus), Festival “Musica da Camera” (Germany), Festival International Ciudad de Ubeda (Spain), Beyond the music Festival (Spain), Loch Shiel Spring Festival (Scotland), Ljubljana International Festival and has played at many important venues including The Purcell Room, Kings Place, St. John’s Smith Square, Barbican, St. Martin-in the-Fields, Small Hall of Moscow Conservatoire, Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center and Suntory Hall.  Tours have taken him to Russia, Ireland, Germany, Israel, France, Switzerland, Spain, Greece, USA, Hong Kong and Cyprus.

Cellist Julia Morneweg

London-based cellist Julia Morneweg enjoys an exciting career as a soloist, chamber musician and artistic curator that regularly sees her perform at prestigious venues and alongside distinguished artists. 

The recipient of an EMI Music Foundation Award, she made her London concerto debut in 2006 performing the Elgar Concerto at St John’s Smith Square which immediately led to further engagements including a performance of Haydn’s C major Concerto with the International Mahler Orchestra at the same venue and Elgar with the Ternopol Philharmonic Orchestra in Ukraine. Other concerto performances have included Lalo in London and Vivaldi in Cologne. As a recitalist she has appeared around the UK, Belgium, Italy, Germany and at venues such as the Purcell Room, Oxford’s Holywell Music Rooms, Trieste Opera House, the National Gallery, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Charterhouse Festival and the Tacoma International Music Festival, USA.

Pianist Ilya Kondratiev

A critically acclaimed pianist, Ilya Kondratiev is the prize-winner of several renowned international music competitions, including Franz Liszt Budapest 2011, Franz Liszt Weimar 2011, the Fifth Tbilisi 2013, Brant Birmingham 2015 and Chappell Gold Medal in 2016. Born in Russia, he studied from the age of seven in Samara with the distinguished teacher Victoria Soifer and, from the age of 16, at the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory with the People’s Artist of Russia Zinaida Ignatieva. In 2014 he moved to London in order to further his studies at the Royal College of Music under Vanessa Latarche and Sofia Gulyak, graduating with a Master of Performance and an Artist Diploma. Ilya performs extensively as a soloist and chamber music player at venues such as the Great Hall of Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, Gasteig Munich, Weimarhalle, Palacio de Festivales de Santander, the Palace of Arts in Budapest and the Great Hall of the Tbilisi Conservatoire.

François Pineau-Benois (violin),
Adam Szokolay (piano)

  Beethoven – two sonatas
Borodin – Wild Polovtsian Dances

FRIDAY 6th June 2025, 7.30pm, St. Botolph’s Church, Trunch.

The Pineau-Benois – Szokolay Duet, grand prix at the 2019 Pro Musicis International Competition (Paris), is recognized by the public in France,  Hungary and other countries: the musicians are qualified as “young virtuosos” by the Figaroscope, complimented for the expressiveness of their playing by the Journal Francophone de Budapest. Their concert at the Salle Cortot in November 2019 ended with a standing ovation from the audience. In March 2020 they performed live on Dutch Radio from Concertgebouw chamber hall.

In March 2022 they received a standing ovation at the Francophone Festival in Budapest and recorded a programme of French Romantic music at Hungarian Radio Bartok.
During the seasons 2022-2023-2024 they were acclaimed in Cortot hall in Paris and the Chamber Hall of Liszt Memorial Museum in Budapest. The musicians manage to harmoniously combine their respective heritage of Hungarian, French and Russian music continuing Liszt, Debussy, Ravel and Bartok traditions.

The Duet is composed of musicians trained in prestigious European schools: the Conservatoire Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP) for the violinist François Pineau-Benois and the Liszt Academies of Budapest and Weimar for the pianist Adam Szokolay.

PROGRAMME 

Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata for violin and piano in F major, Op.24 “Spring”
Sonata for violin and piano in A minor, Op.23

Interval

Alexander Borodin: Wild Polovrsian Dances, from Prince Igor opera (1887)

M. Ravel: La vallée des cloches, from Miroirs (1905)

Béla Bartók: Rhapsody No. 1 for violin and piano, BB 94a

Winner of the 2019 Bartók World Competition in Budapest and a Junior Prima Prize recipient, Ádám Szokolay has given concerts throughout Europe and North America, in such venues as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Salle Cortot in Paris, the National Philharmonic Hall in Vilnius, the Great Hall of the Franz Liszt Academy of Music and the Palace of Arts in Budapest. A passionate chamber musician, he has participated in international festivals like the Villa Musica Festival in Mainz, the Encuentro di Música in Santander, Spain… As a soloist, he has appeared with the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra, the Savaria-, Győr- and Miskolc Symphony Orchestras, the Budapest Strings and the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra among others, with such conductors as János Kovács, Domonkos Héja, Mátyás Antal. Szokolay is regularly invited to hold solo recitals in the Franz Liszt Memorial Museum and the Béla Bartók Memorial House in Budapest. He was invited for live Broadcast at BBC and Mezzo TV.

With his chamber duet partner, violinist François Pineau-Benois they have given concerts throughout Europe.
Szokolay studied at the Bard College Conservatory of Music in New York, the Franz Liszt Hochschule für Musik in Weimar and the Mozarteum University in Salzburg with Peter Serkin, Grigory Gruzman and Imre Rohmann. Szokolay is based in Budapest, where he recently completed his Master’s degree in the Franz Liszt Academy of Music. under Dénes Várjon and András Kemenes. He has participated in the master classes with György Kurtág, Ferenc Rados, Zoltán Kocsis, Rita Wagner. Winner of numerous international competitions he was awarded the special prize of the Kocsis-Hauser Foundation in Hungary for his artistic work.

Concert violinist François Pineau- Benois, is nicknamed by the international press “French virtuoso” and recognized today by French musicians as one of “Grand French bow players”.  He worked with Regis Pasqueir, Maxim Vengerov, Salvatore Accardo and Mauricio Fuks. François is a laureate of fiercely competitive carrier grants of Fondation Banque Populaire and Safran for Music (2017), Adami and Culture Moves Europe EU (2023), Telepart of Finnish Institute in Paris (2022), and of prizes from several international competitions: such as Léopold Mozart Competition in Augsbourg, Glazunov Competition in Paris… and others.

He has performed as a soloist with symphony orchestras abroad and in France on several occasions. He has been invited by France Musique, Dutch Radio and Radio Bartok for live broadcasts. He has played at prestigious stages and festivals as Cortot Hall, Grand Salon des Invalides in Paris, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, festival of Radio France in Montpelier, festival Auvers-sur-Oise, Gstadt New Year Festival, in the countries as France, UK, Germany, Finland, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Israel and others… His first CD with Philia Trio is nominated by France Musique (2022). His second CD 24 caprices of Paganini has been just issued in December 2024 and has become “ popular classical product” in FNAC. He collaborates with contemporary composers and makes world premiere of concerto for violon and string by Jarno Vanhanen composed for him (2024). François Pineau-Benois plays historical violin “Genève” (XVIII) of French virtuoso Lucien Durosoir, let him by MEGEP foundation. He is professor at Rachmaninoff Conservatory in Paris.


All event proceeds will continue to be donated to Trunch and Swafield Church restoration projects.
The Church and community would like to thank both the audiences and the performers for their generosity. Since 1998 the concerts have raised about £40,000 towards these projects. Thanks too to the dynamic Trunch Village Society for its support for publicity.

Performers reserve the right to change their programmes from those indicated in the brochure or website. The organising team will take reasonable steps to give notice if any concert has to be postponed or cancelled. Please check this website for up to date information closer to the dates of the concert. To receive our newsletters please email admin@trunchconcerts.com