The Trio Portici
was set up to commemorate Belgium’s 175th year of independence and takes its name from Daniel Esprit Auber’s The Mute Girl of Portici. During a performance of this opera at the Théâtre de la Monnaie, Brussels, in August 1830, a riot broke out that became the signal for the revolution that led to Belgian independence.

The members of the trio are Stéphane De May, teacher at the Conservatory of Rotterdam and Leuven, Damien Pardoen, violinist in the Luxemburg Philharmonic Orchestra and teacher at the Royal Conservatory of Liège and Luc Tooten, first solo cellist of the Brussels Philharmonic.

Their first CD in 2005 was César Frank’s piano trio’s Opus 1, (numbers 1 and 2). Following a positive reaction from the international press, the trio reached an agreement with the Pavane label. Since then five more CDs have been produced, with chamber music from Frédéric Chopin, Claude Debussy, Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Franz Schubert and George Onslow.

The Trio Portici have performed for the Flemish Festival, the Walloon Festival and during important cultural celebrations in the Netherlands, France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Lithuania and China. These concerts were praised by critics for their musicality, technical perfection, creative inspiration and instrumental control.

Since the beginning of the 2007-2008 academic year, the Trio Portici have been Musicians in Residence at the Catholic University in Leuven; this grants them the honor of performing for all the university’s cultural, educational and ceremonial events. Damien Pardoen plays a violin built in Cremona in 1694 by Francesco Ruggieri and Luc Tooten a cello made in Naples in 1705 by Alessandro Gagliano.