Eblana Trio & Emmet Byrne, oboe

Saturday October 25th 2025

Mozart: Oboe Quartet K370
Beethoven: String Trio in C Minor, Op 9 no 3
Britten: Phantasy Quartet, Op 2
Finzi: Prelude and Fugue for String Trio
E.J.Moeran: Fantasy Quartet for Oboe and Strings

Since its formation in 2006, the Eblana String Trio has been performing regularly for music societies and festivals throughout the UK and beyond, winning praise from audiences and critics alike for the depth and insight of their performances of this often neglected repertoire. Recent seasons have seen the trio giving acclaimed performances at both the Wigmore Hall for the Park Lane Group and at the Bridgewater Hall for the Manchester Midday Concerts Society, as well as performing live on Radio 3’s ‘In Tune’ programme. The trio are delighted to be Help Musicians supported artists.

In 2017 the trio joined the roster of City Music Foundation artists, giving them access to both high-level performance opportunities as well as world-class professional and artistic mentoring. They have also performed under the auspices of the Park Lane Group and gave a critically acclaimed concert of works by Robin Holloway, Joel Rust (world premiere), and Schoenberg at St John’s Smith Square – “Finally, we heard that towering masterpiece of the chamber repertory, Schoenberg’s String Trio. (Why, oh why, do we not hear it more often?) Febrile, intense, this was a fine performance indeed…The players’ instrumental singing of Schoenberg’s lines, flexible yet ever goal-directed, would have drawn in the most sceptical of listeners…” (Seen and Heard International)

Other notable appearances over the past decade have included Keele Concerts Society, Derby Chamber Music Society, Bollington Chamber Concerts, Holmes Chapel Music Society, MusikFest Goslar (Germany) and the North Norfolk, King’s Lynn, Stratford-upon-Avon and Salisbury International Festivals. The trio has for many years also made appearances at the annual RNCM Chamber Music Festivals including a critically acclaimed performance of the Schoenberg Trio in their Festival of Viennese chamber music – “…the late, mercurial, if elliptical, String Trio, a sort of 12-tone divertimento, was brilliantly undertaken by the RNCM’s Eblana String Trio.” (Paul Driver – Sunday Times)

During their time at the Royal Northern College of Music the trio won all the major chamber music prizes, notably winning the 2010 RNCM chamber music award and audience prize for their performance of Britten’s Phantasy Quartet for Oboe and Strings. They are also fortunate to have received coaching from many eminent chamber musicians such as Gabor Takacs-Nagy, Hugh Maguire, Robin Ireland and Petr Prause, and have also attended the International Musicians’ Seminar at Prussia Cove studying with David Waterman. The trio has also been invited on a number of occasions to participate in the European Chamber Music Academy, most recently studying with Christoph Richter, Peter Cropper and Hatto Beyerle.

From 2013 until 2015 The Eblana String Trio were Junior Fellows in chamber music at Birmingham Conservatoire, a post which encompassed performing, studying and teaching whilst acting as ambassadors for the Conservatoire. The members of the trio are now visiting tutors in Chamber Music at Birmingham Conservatoire.

Emmet Byrne was born in Waterford, Ireland. His early oboe lessons were with Mathew Manning of the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra. He studied at the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester with Hugh Mckenna and Melinda Maxwell, followed by postgraduate studies at the Hochschule fur Musik Cologne, Germany with Prof. Christian Schneider. After his studies Emmet performed with many of the UK and Ireland’s leading orchestras including the BBC Philharmonic, Halle Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia and both RTÉ Orchestras in Dublin. In 2014 he represented Ireland in the World Orchestra for Peace at the BBC Proms.

He joined the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra as Principal 2nd Oboe in May 2013. As well as regularly performing at Birmingham’s Symphony Hall, highlights with the CBSO so far include tours to Asia, Europe and USA under music directors Andris Nelsons, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla and the CBSO’s new Music Director Kazuki Yamada. Emmet was an oboe tutor at Royal Northern College of Music, Junior department before moving to Birmingham where he now teaches at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. He tutors the oboe section of the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland and the CBSO Youth Orchestra. 

As a soloist, in addition to numerous recitals, he has appeared with Camerata Ireland in Penderecki’s Capriccio for oboe and strings with the late Penderecki conducting. He has performed in many of the CBSO Centre Stage chamber music concerts including Mozart and Beethoven Piano quintets with french pianist Cédric Tiberghien and Mozart’s Gran Partita alongside oboist Francois Leleux. He has been collarated with the Eblana String Trio on numerous occasions. 

Emmet is grateful to be supported by Music Network Ireland Capital Scheme which is funded by the Arts Council of Ireland.