The Papaioea Piano Trio will perform their inaugural concert on Sunday. The trio members have a strong connection with Palmerston North.
Guy Donaldson has for many years been a regular performer in the Globe Sunday Matinee programmes as well as being a teacher and music coach in Manawatū. He has accompanied distinguished artists such as Dame Malvina Major, Anna Leese, Olga Shanina and violinist Hannah Fang, and has been a concerto soloist with the Manawatū Sinfonia.
Elizabeth Patchett was born in Auckland and raised in Hamilton. She was an orchestral musician with the Auckland Philharmonia before joining the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra in 1993. Patchett has toured and recorded as a member of the New Zealand Chamber Orchestra, and has toured for Chamber Music New Zealand as a member of the Nevine String Quartet.
In recent years she has made an impact on the Manawatū music scene as a teacher and has had significant success in coaching advanced violin students in the region.
Robert Ibell was born in Dannevirke and was brought up in Palmerston North. He learned cello from Judith Hyatt in Wellington, and between 1986 and 1992 lived and studied cello in London, playing in professional and amateur orchestras. From 1993 to 2019, Robert was a member of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. He is now a cello and double bass teacher, and has begun a teaching practice in Palmerston North.
For their first concert, the trio have chosen trio works from three eras.