Ensemble Phoenix Basel

About Ensemble Phoenix Basel

The Ensemble Phoenix Basel (EPB) was founded in 1998 by Swiss conductor and pianist Jürg Henneberger, flutist Christoph Bösch, and percussionist Daniel Buess. Right from the start, this highly versatile orchestra for contemporary music had a significant impact on the cultural scene of its home city. Today, it is one of the most important groups of its kind in Switzerland and has also gained an international reputation. The number of musicians onstage can range from three to almost thirty, making the ensemble ideally suited for performing the works of contemporary composers. What gives the EPB its unique edge is how it incorporates, and is driven by, the impulses and preferences of its individual members. In recent years, the group has performed throughout Europe as well as in Mexico, China, and the USA.

As part of its support program for young composers, the EPB performs the "Final Concert for Compositions" at Basel’s University of Music. The Ensemble Phoenix believes that staging world premieres of new compositions, together with the organization and commissioning work involved, is an excellent way of supporting and coaching new talent. Other forms of collaboration with composers are also explored, including the joint improvisational creation of concert pieces or even entire programs with composers and musicians from performance areas such as Soundart, Noise, Free Improv, or Electronica such as John Duncan, Kasper Toeplitz, Zbigniew Karkowski, etc.

In March 2014, Ensemble Phoenix Basel was nominated along with 14 other Swiss music creators from all musical fields for the Swiss Ministry for Culture’s first Swiss Music Award.

www.ensemble-phoenix.ch