In honouring The Florestan Trio with its award for chamber music in 2000, the Royal Philharmonic Society recognized the achievements of the trio in a repertoire in which long-standing, dedicated ensembles have always been rare. The Florestan Trio played together for sixteen years, its members always committed to chamber music despite their parallel involvement in distinguished individual careers.

The Florestan Trio is one of the most-recorded piano trios in the world. Its recordings on Hyperion have received outstanding reviews; all their discs have been nominated for Gramophone Awards, and are recommended choices in major collectors’ guides. Their Schumann disc won a 1999 Gramophone Award; their CD of French piano trios is one of Hyperion’s best-sellers in the chamber music field, and all their other discs from Mozart to Saint-Saëns have become benchmark recordings. Their recent discs of Haydn Trios were acclaimed by Fanfare: ‘The Florestan is the ultimate in gentility and grace … the playing, interpretation, and recorded sound are perfection; every note, every phrase, every balance is beyond criticism.’

For fifteen years the trio ran its own summer festival in East Sussex, which centred on the trio but also welcomed guest artists of international stature. The trio’s associated charity, The Florestan Trust, promoted many educational activities including the commissioning of new works and the encouragement of young artists through.

In 2011, after sixteen years of exceptional achievement and having recorded the major works of the piano trio repertoire to great acclaim, the career paths of the members of the trio diverged: Anthony Marwood continues to develop his solo and directing activities; Richard Lester performs with The London Haydn Quartet, as a soloist and principal cello with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe; and Susan Tomes pursues solo engagements and chamber music projects, as well as writing and broadcasting.