eNsemble + Phœnix

The leading Swiss and Russian contemporary music ensembles have realized a unique international project in the framework of the cultural collaboration program between Switzerland and Russia «Swiss mad in Russia», supported by the Swiss Arts Counsil Pro Helvetia and the Ministry of Culture of Russian Federation.

The soloists of the Ensemble Phoenix Basel (Switzerland) with the St. Petersburg eNsemble (Russia) under the direction of the ensembles' conductors – Jürg Henneberger and Fedor Lednev – have brought to life five world premieres of new compositions by Russian and Swiss composers, specially written for the eNsemble + Phoenix project. The concept of the program, which included also the Russian premieres of works by Dieter Ammann, Sergej Newski and Antoine Chessex, was exploration of the contemporary interpretation of the idea of juxta- or contraposition of a solo instrument to an ensemble, the prototype of which is the baroque instrumental concerto.

Each soloist of the Ensemble Phoenix Basel – Christoph Bösch (flute), Toshiko Sakakibara (clarinet), Martin Jaggi (cello) and Daniel Buess (percussion) – have presented in two evenings points of view on that idea by a Russian and a Swiss composer, thus revealing alongside the musical thinking of authors from different cultural backgrounds.

The concerts took place at the New Stage of Alexandrinky Theatre (St. Petersburg), in Multimedia Art Museum (Moscow) and at the Arsenal of National Center for Contemporary Arts (Nizhni Novgorod) in December 2015.

December 12 and 13 – St. Petersburg
December 14 and 15 – Moscow
December 17 – Nizhni Novgorod

Organizers – Trajectory of Music and Center Art-parkING.
Artistic Director – Arman Gushchyan