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Lodestar Trio

Lodestar Trio holding their instruments

One of music’s most intrepid cross-pollinators the Lodestar Trio breezes through the baroque on an exhilarating genre-bending journey into Nordic folk music and beyond. 

Serial transcriber that he was, J S Bach might nonetheless have wondered how his music would sound re-imagined for violin, Norwegian Hardanger fiddle, and Swedish nyckelharpa. He needn’t have worried! The instruments spark off each, contriving a Scandi smorgasbord that sets jaunty Merula, teasing Couperin, and a rip-roaring arrangement of the Prelude to Bach’s 6th Suite for solo cello alongside freewheeling folk-inflected works by the players themselves.

‘Lodestar does so much more than shine a different light on Bach’s pieces’, observes Songlines UK. ‘They make them anew’. Back in 2018, following an overture from cross-genre enthusiast Max Baillie, three days of exploratory jamming followed, and Lodestar was born, blazing an innovative trail fusing folk traditions with baroque re-invention. Buckle up, it's going to be an ebullient ride.

Details

Event date 1 Oct 2024
Start time 7.30pm
Running time
110 minutes
There will be an interval
All timings are approximate and subject to change

Programme and performers

Johann Sebastian Bach Musette in G major
Tarquinio Merula Ciaconna in C major
Johann Sebastian Bach ’Allegro assai’ from Violin Sonata No 3
‘Gavotte II’ from Cello Suite No 6
Olav Mjelva Hjaltaren
Johann Sebastian Bach ’Sarabande’ from Cello Suite No 6
Jean-Baptiste Lully Loure in F major
Trad Norwegian Minuet I
Norwegian Minuet II
Max Baillie Rolling to Roros
Johann Sebastian Bach ‘Air on a G string’ from Orchestral Suite No 3
‘Bourrée’ from Violin Partita No 3
‘Sarabande’ from Cello Suite No 5
François Couperin Les Barricades Mystérieuses
Johann Sebastian Bach ’Prelude’ from Cello Suite No 6
Erik Rydvall Jubileumspolska
Olav Mjelva Deliverance

Lodestar Trio:
Max Baillie violin
Erik Rydvall Swedish nyckelharpa
Olva Mjelva Norwegian hardanger fiddle

Lodestar Trio

Lodestar Trio is a unique collaboration between Scandinavian folk music musicians Erik Rydvall and Olav Mjelva and British violinist Max Baillie. Together they bring a spirit of groove and improvisation to Baroque music by combining traditional Nordic string instruments – the Swedish nyckelharpa and the Norwegian hardanger fiddle – with the violin. 

The trio formed in 2018 after Max contacted Erik and Olav after seeing one of their duo videos. They met up and played together for three days, and have since released their debut album Bach to Folk (Naxos), released to critical acclaim in 2022. They have appeared live on BBC radio, been featured on German, Norwegian, Swedish and Irish national radio, on Classic FM, and in the past two years have performed at festivals across Europe, including Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, Hungary and here in the UK. 

Their repertoire includes uniquely reimagined versions of pieces from Bach’s Solo Cello Suites and Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin, all played in Lodestar’s own trio arrangements, and other Baroque works by Merula and Couperin, alongside traditional and contemporary Nordic tunes. They have collaborated with string ensemble United Strings of Europe, including in music by Bartók and Grieg, and launch their latest larger-scale programme Folk Odyssey later this month, following debut performances as a trio here at the Barbican Centre and at Menuhin Hall. In February 2025 they collaborate for the first time with Icelandic composer Viktor Árnason in Reykjavík. 

Individually the three musicians of Lodestar Trio are stars in their respective fields and have collaborated with leading artists around the world, performed as soloists and chamber musicians in major concert halls and appeared on blockbuster film soundtracks.