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This concert features three members of Ensemble 360:-
Guy Eshed
Tim Horton
Matthew Hunt
to play the programme.
Ensemble 360 was formed in 2005 to take up residency in South Yorkshire with Music in the Round, succeeding The Lindsays who retired as a quartet in July 2005. The ensemble brings together musicians from across the globe to form one versatile ensemble of eleven musicians; five wind players, a pianist, double bassist and the Elias String Quartet.
Their home performance space is the Crucible Studio in Sheffield - a 400 seat intimate venue with an extremely special atmosphere. Ensemble 360 believes in their concerts being informal, friendly and relaxed occasions and, although they perform in many traditional chamber music venues, they perform ‘in the round’ wherever possible. Having an audience on all four sides brings with it an intimacy and immediacy between musician and audience that other layouts cannot match. It is from this ‘in the round’ format that they take their name, Ensemble 360.
The enthusiasm, drive and musicality of each of the performers has proved a success with audiences across the UK as they find themselves drawn into the performances both through the communicative and engrossing nature of their playing and through the personalities of the musicians themselves. Ensemble 360 have grown to be a strong team and a group of friends who share a passion for their work; a passion which radiates through each performance.
Ensemble 360 is devoted to taking music into the community. They regularly host workshops in local schools, Young Performers’ Platforms and are involved in a GCSE composition programme, Powerplus. The ensemble are currently resident ensemble at the Universities of York and Sheffield running recital classes, masterclasses and performance workshops. During 2006/7 they toured Snap! Snap! a musical for 2 to 7 year olds that was especially written for the group to sell out audiences across the UK. For Mozart’s 250th birthday they embarked on a 25 hour marathon of his music to raise money for the Lindsay Foundation, a fundraising vehicle to support the education and outreach work.
As the largest professional ensemble to be based in South Yorkshire, Ensemble 360 have also established concert series in Barnsley and Rotherham and, starting soon, in Doncaster. The ensemble plug an important gap in chamber music provision in South Yorkshire and are strong advocates for the region; one of their Barnsley concerts making Pick of the Week in The Times. They also bring other international artists to the region to perform in their annual 8-day May Festival in Sheffield.
Outside South Yorkshire, they perform at intimate and unusual venues across the UK with the national touring programme Around the Country, appear regularly on BBC Radio 3 and have a growing relationship with the Wigmore Hall. They have the pleasure of a close relationship with renowned harpsichordist Trevor Pinnock with whom they work regularly. They have also performed at the Leamington, Rotherham and Bradfield Festivals.
Ensemble 360 enjoy the opportunity to collaborate with partners on a variety of projects. Recent collaborations have included working with actor and director Samuel West on readings of Harold Pinter’s poetry and a performance of The Soldier’s Tale and a musical commentary on artwork on display at the Sheffield Millennium Galleries Art on the Rockface exhibition.
On top of the above, they even host their own very popular concert series in local Sheffield pub where they are paid in Moonshine, Abbeydale Brewery’s finest beer!
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