The Bristol Ensemble, formerly the Emerald Ensemble, is a professional chamber orchestra, based in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The ensemble has been in existence since 1994, when it was formed as a musicians' collective by

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

ist Roger Huckle. Their repertoire includes classical, popular, jazz and contemporary music. The size of the group depends on the programmes being performed and can range from trios to a full complement of 70 or so musicians. They perform standing up (except in orchestral concerts). The Bristol Ensemble tours regularly throughout the

South West of England South West England, or the South West of England, is one of nine official regions of England. It consists of the counties of Bristol, Cornwall (including the Isles of Scilly), Dorset, Devon, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire. Cities an ...

and further afield, with a large number of performances in Bristol at venues including the

Bristol Beacon Bristol Beacon, previously known as Colston Hall, is a concert hall and Grade II listed building on Colston Street, Bristol, England. It is owned by Bristol City Council. Since 2011, management of the hall has been the direct responsibility of ...

, St Georges, Brandon Hill and

Bristol Cathedral Bristol Cathedral, the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, is the Church of England cathedral in the city of Bristol, England. Founded in 1140 and consecrated in 1148, it was originally St Augustine's Abbey but after the Dissolu ...

. The Ensemble give approximately 60 concerts a year and work with soloists. The ensemble regularly accompanies screenings of

silent movies A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, whe ...

. In 2008, as the Emerald Ensemble, they performed at a local nightclub to some acclaim, and in autumn 2009 they performed with William Goodchild and

Roni Size Ryan Owen Granville Williams (born 29 October 1969), better known by his stage name Roni Size, is an English DJ and record producer. He came to prominence in 1997 as the founder and frontman of Roni Size & Reprazent, a drum and bass collective. ...

, and also with

Crippled Black Phoenix Crippled Black Phoenix are an English dark rock band, founded by Justin Greaves in 2004. Several musicians have contributed to Crippled Black Phoenix's albums and played with them during their live shows. History In 2004, Justin Greaves, previou ...

and the solo artist

Joe Volk Joe Volk is an English musician and songwriter from Bristol now based in Bern, Switzerland. He was lyricist and singer with the bands Gonga and Crippled Black Phoenix, and is a solo recording artist. Solo As a solo artist, Volk was first si ...

under the curation of

Geoff Barrow Geoffrey Paul Barrow (born 9 December 1971) is an English music producer, composer, and DJ. He is a member of the bands Portishead, Beak and supergroup Quakers, and has scored several films. Portishead—formed in 1991—was named after the s ...

. The Bristol Ensemble also undertakes

outreach Outreach is the activity of providing services to any population that might not otherwise have access to those services. A key component of outreach is that the group providing it is not stationary, but mobile; in other words, it involves meetin ...

work with schools, colleges and older people. They regularly record for television and film, including much work for the

BBC Natural History Unit The BBC Studios Natural History Unit (NHU) is a department of BBC Studios that produces television, radio and online content with a natural history or wildlife theme. It is best known for its highly regarded nature documentaries, including '' ...

and they have produced several

CDs The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in Octo ...

of their work.

Discography

* ''Live At Colston Hall'' (2015) Roni Size & Reprazent with William Goodchild and The Emerald Ensemble

References

{{Authority control Musical groups from Bristol English classical music groups