Since graduating from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, David Brooker has been a performer on the viola and a music educator with a special interest in using ensemble music in instrumental teaching. His first two books, “Stringplay” and “Stringplay Around the World” reflected this, providing resources for elementary string orchestra and now “String Trios from Around the World” takes the idea to the smaller ensemble of violin, viola and cello.This book of folk music from four continents, with an emphasis on love songs, keeps to the spirit of the original pieces while making the music idiomatic and fun to play. The parts are equal in difficulty (easy to intermediate); in fact, David says that, as a violist himself, he has made sure that the violinist doesn’t get all the tunes! The arrangements include a few unusual techniques but David promises they are not as hard as they look or sound.

Instrumentation: Violin, viola and cello.