Music for the Salon Trio - CD

On the 23^rd of October 1911, the recently formed Salon Trio gave their first recital at the St. James Hall in Sydney. The players were Miss Dorothy Curtis, violin, Miss Florence E. Brown, ‘cello and Miss Mirrie Solomon [Hill], piano. This was a significant occasion because it marked the presentation of a new chamber music ensemble consisting of piano, violin, and cello, playing compositions of a genre not yet extensively explored in Australia. The program consisted of trios by Schott, Vidor, Grieg and Mendelssohn . At the time Sydney did not have a strong chamber music tradition and there are no reviews or notifications of any other permanent piano trio to be found. This was an all-female group of instrumentalists, performing in a public venue, also highly unusual. However, over time the pianists were replaced by Iris de Cairos-Rego, then Frank Hutchens (who was a good friend of Alfred Hill) and so these three pianists, also composers, wrote pieces for the trio., as did Alfred Hill.