London Concertante is a chamber

ensemble Ensemble may refer to: Art * Architectural ensemble * ''Ensemble'' (album), Kendji Girac 2015 album * Ensemble (band), a project of Olivier Alary * Ensemble cast (drama, comedy) * Ensemble (musical theatre), also known as the chorus * ''En ...

, performing classical

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...

repertoire, along with

gypsy The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...

and

Latin American music The music of Latin America refers to music originating from Latin America, namely the Romance-speaking regions of the Americas south of the United States. Latin American music also incorporates African music from enslaved African people who were ...

such as the

tango Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries as the result of a combina ...

compositions of Piazzolla. The ensemble is led by artist director and cellist Chris Grist. They perform about a hundred concerts each year.

History

Founded in 1991, the ensemble performed in the UK and made three tours to Spain in its first few years. In an expanded form, the ensemble performed as an opera orchestra, collaborating with Pegasus Opera, Palace Opera, Music Theatre Kernow and

Holland Park Opera Opera Holland Park is a summer opera company which produces an annual season of opera performances, staged under a temporary canopy in front of the remains of Holland House, a Blitz-damaged building in Holland Park, west central London. The venue ...

. The ensemble also began performing regularly at St. Martin-in-the-Fields, as well as also presenting concerts at the

Southbank Centre Southbank Centre is a complex of artistic venues in London, England, on the South Bank of the River Thames (between Hungerford Bridge and Waterloo Bridge). It comprises three main performance venues (the Royal Festival Hall including the Nat ...

Southwark Cathedral Southwark Cathedral ( ) or The Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Saviour and St Mary Overie, Southwark, London, lies on the south bank of the River Thames close to London Bridge. It is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Southwark. ...

, St. James' Piccadilly and

Cadogan Hall Cadogan Hall is a 950-seat capacity concert hall in Sloane Terrace in Chelsea in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England. The resident music ensemble at Cadogan Hall is the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO), the first ...

. The ensemble has since toured to Finland, USA, Germany, Ireland, France, Spain, Holland and Italy. The ensemble's first album, The Four Seasons, was released in 1995, on its own label. They have since recorded for

Harmonia Mundi Harmonia Mundi is an independent record label which specializes in classical music, jazz, and world music (on the World Village label). It was founded in France in 1958 and is now a subsidiary of PIAS Entertainment Group. Its Latin name ''ha ...

Toccata Classics Toccata Classics is an independent British classic music label founded in 2005. The founder of Toccata Classics is Martin Anderson, a music journalist. The label was founded primarily to promote unrecorded works by lesser-known composers, inc ...

, Chandos and

ARC Music ARC Music is a world music and folk music label based in West Sussex, England, that was established in 1976. Naxos acquired ARC in 2019. Film and television ARC Music has been used in the films ''Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crysta ...

Recordings

2020 - Music from the Movies 2020 - Romantic Viennese Waltzes 2009 - Piazzolla and Beyond 2007 - Allegro 2007 - Mendelssohn: Octet & String Symphony No. 10 2006 - Adagio 2006 - English Serenade 2003 - Brahms & Schoenberg: Sextets 2002 - Essential Mozart 2001 - Gypsy Tango Pasion 1997 - Bach Concertos 1995 - The Four Seasons

Repertoire

(Alphabetically by composer)

J.S.Bach - ''Brandenburg Concerto No.3'' Felix Mendelssohn - ''Octet for strings'' Astor Piazzolla - ''Oblivion'' Arnold Schoenberg - ''Verklärte Nacht'' Antonio Vivaldi - ''Four Seasons''

References

External links

* Chamber music groups Musical groups from London {{Classical-ensemble-stub