The Leopold String Trio, with Diedre Irons at Auckland Town Hall

Kate Gould, the cellist with the Leopold String Trio, "got bitten by the chamber music bug early on".

With violinist sister Lucy (the founder and leader of the Gould Trio) and another viola-playing sister, "we played string trios, little fun arrangements when we were all based in the Hampshire Youth Orchestra".

It wasn't until 1991, during studies at the Royal College of Music, that she considered the viability of a professional string trio.

Gould and two fellow-students "realised there was a lot of music that people weren't tapping into ... and there weren't many string trios around".

And so the Leopold String Trio was born.

By 1998, when their CD of the Beethoven Trios picked up Recording of the Month in both Gramophone and the BBC Music Magazine, Marianne Thorsen, Scott Dickinson and Gould found their faith had been well-founded.

Gould finds the string trio "a funny combination. It basically feels like a string quartet but it's so much more exposed. The cello and viola lines are a lot more virtuosic.

"We got hooked on the whole intensity of it all. It's so exciting because you can never hide in a string trio.

"Rehearsal patterns have changed a lot. When we were younger we used to talk everything to death, and in the last five years or so we've learned just to try it out and play. We know that at the end of the day, when it comes to the concert, we're going to do what feels right so there's no point in over-analysing. On the whole, whoever's got the tune leads."

On stage they like the combination of "old and new, familiar and unfamiliar", even if what they're offering Auckland is rather conservative: Mozart's Piano Quartet in G minor, Serenade for String Trio by Dohnanyi and Dvorak's Piano Quartet.

In Australia next month, they'll take part in a concert for the Menage series and play Signs, Games and Messages by the Hungarian composer Kurtag.

This, Gould says, "is the most sparring work we've ever played. All the pieces are very short and you feel there isn't one nuance that isn't important".

I sense a certain caution when it comes to contemporary music, but am assured otherwise. "There are geniuses around, composers who are not just writing things for the sake of sounding modern."

One is Thomas Ades, who "writes music that touches your soul".

Gould feels honoured to be recording for Hyperion records. "Hyperion are discerning about what they programme, so we have to work hard at getting just the right pieces. That's probably why they're one of the few record companies that are still not in the red. Some might be more adventurous, but not to the same gains."

Last year they were the British group chosen for the Echo Rising Stars programme, and were given the opportunity to play in major venues on both sides of the Atlantic. While the experience of performing in bigger halls under pressure was a revelation, so too were the reactions of different audiences.

"British audiences can be great. They really listen, they're really quiet while you're playing and they don't always go mad afterwards. We don't even assume we'll prepare an encore piece, but when we go abroad we have to. Somewhere like Norway they go crazy, and I love the way in some countries they all start clapping in time. In England we don't do that at all."

I suspect the good old Kiwi approbation of foot-stomping might be a surprise to these musicians, and if their superlative Hyperion recordings are anything to go by, they may well might inspire such a reaction.

* Tonight at 8pm