Ensemble Midwest

Ensemble MidtVest understands classical music as a living tradition that is rooted in the past, but which is just as relevant today as it has been for centuries. It is therefore the ensemble's aim to make the last 500 years of music accessible to the 21st century audience. To fulfill this goal, the ensemble not only presents a repertoire of classical chamber music, but also works with free improvisation as well as baroque and early classical works.

Ensemble MidtVest was established in 2002 and consists of a string quartet, a wind quintet and a pianist. The ensemble is based at HEART – Herning Museum of Contemporary Art, which houses both rehearsal rooms and a concert hall.

 

CONCERTS IN HOME AND ABROAD

Ensemble MidtVest plays approx. 100 concerts a year at home and abroad, and has i.a. performed at Carnegie Hall in New York, Kings' Place and Wigmore Hall in London, as well as at Musikfestspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Rio International Chamber Music Week, ULTIMA Festival in Oslo, and The Vale of Glamorgan Festival in Wales. In 2018, the ensemble will also make its debut at the Mantova Chamber Music Festival.

 

COLLABORATORS 

The ensemble has collaborated with a large number of high-profile musicians, including Pekka Kuusisto (violin), Martin Fröst, Charles Neidich and Johannes Peitz (clarinet), Torleif Thedéen and Christoph Richter (cello), Alexander Lonquich and Christian Ihle Hadland (piano), Christina Landshamer (soprano), Per Arne Glorvigen and Paolo Russo (bandoneón), the Danish String Quartet and the Alcan String Quartet.

Ensemble MidtVest has recorded 20 CDs. The recording of Mozart and Brahms piano quartets has previously won DR's P2 Prize for the best Danish CD release of the year, just as the recording of Hans Abrahamsen's 10 Preludes + Six Pieces has been nominated for the P2 Prize for this year's Danish album in the new music category in 2018.

Since 2014, the renowned bassoonist Sergio Azzolini has been associated as an artistic consultant for the ensemble with a focus on baroque and early classical music. In addition to traditional chamber music, the ensemble also works with classical improvisation with a view to developing a unique sound and its own musical language. From 2007-2017, the well-known jazz pianist Carsten Dahl has therefore been associated as an artistic consultant. Together with Dahl, the musicians have developed their musical intuition and individuality through classical improvisation.

 

SUPPORTED BY

Ensemble MidtVest is supported by the Statens Kunstfond and by the four municipalities Herning, Holstebro, Struer and Ikast-Brande.

Updated by: VisitHerning | mail@visitherning.com