The Kugoni Trio’s CD Essence by Kugoni Trio is a continuation of the success story that their first CD Timelapse had begun. With this CD, the trio seeks the true meaning of “essence”. The players must have a sincere belief in Belgian music, for this is essential if Belgian audiences are to arrive at a new perception of classical music. The Kugoni Trio believes firmly in an artistic laboratory as a meeting place for performers and composers, in which they can debate, experiment and synthesise their ideas of what contemporary classical music is and should be today. The limited repertoire for the unusual combination of instruments that form the trio and the often all too conservative attitude of the world of classical music were the most important stimuli to their definition of their own artistic identity.

The ensemble collaborated with five leading Belgian composers for Essence: Piet Jozef Swerts (1960), Wim Henderickx (1962), Jeroen D’hoe (1968), Pieter Schuermans (1970) and Mathias Coppens (1988). This CD is therefore a musical statement, one through which the Kugoni Trio can now invite its listeners to experience classical music in an entirely different way. The ensemble hopes to inspire its audiences to accept the challenges posed by contemporary music and to discover themselves how new works penetrate to the essence of what music can signify.