Described as one of the UK’s ‘top new music bands’ (Kate Molleson, BBC Radio 3), Explore Ensemble is a group in London that performs, commissions, and promotes new music throughout the UK and internationally. Based around a core sextet that often incorporates electronics and video, Explore Ensemble's reputation for outstanding performances and inventive curation stems from its advocacy of some of the most original composers of today, combined with its revival of landmark works from the recent past, and its debut recordings of new music. In 2021 Explore Ensemble was awarded the internationally prestigious Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung Ensemble Prize to support its artistic and organisational development.

Since its founding in 2012 at the Royal College of Music by composers Nicholas Moroz and Arne Gieshoff, Explore Ensemble has featured at festivals and venues throughout the UK and beyond, including Centro Pecci Prato (IT), hcmf// (UK), LCMF (UK), Aldeburgh Festival (UK), No Bounds (UK), Transit (BE), November Music (NL), Schleswig-Holstein (DE), ZKM Karlsruhe (DE), Schlossmediale (CH), and at home in London: Wigmore Hall, Kings Place, Cafe OTO, and Spitalfields Festival.

Explore Ensemble has released several critically-acclaimed records. Described as ‘A gift for listeners’ by the New York Times, its 2023 album — Perfect Offering — showcases music by Cassandra Miller, Lisa Illean, Rebecca Saunders, and Lawrence Dunn. The ensemble’s portrait of Catherine Lamb’s music with Exaudi and Lotte Betts-Dean on Another Timbre — parallaxis forma — was described by Bandcamp’s Peter Magarsak as an ‘extraordinary collection‘. Other releases include two portrait albums of Oliver Leith and James Weeks’ music on Another Timbre: Me Hollywood and Summer, which featured on Bandcamp’s Best of Contemporary Classical list.

Explore Ensemble focuses on a small number of commissions each season, working closely with composers to create more personal and collaborative works. Since 2017 commissions have included Patricia Alessandrini, Lisa Illean, Scott McLaughlin, John Croft, Edwin Hillier, Oliver Leith, Joanna Bailie, Angharad Davies, Lawrence Dunn, Mark Fell, Okkyung Lee, Neil Luck, Beatrice Dillon, Nakul Krishnamurthy, Alex Paxton, and Lara Agar. 2022 saw the group commission video artist Rebecca Salvadori for a trio portrait films on its projects with Dunn, Davies, and Fell, currently in preparation. Other featured composers include Natasha Barrett, James Dillon, Michael Finnissy, Morton Feldman, Gérard Grisey, Catherine Lamb, Mauro Lanza, Andrea Valle, Luigi Nono, Enno Poppe, Kaija Saariaho, Fausto Romitelli, Rebecca Saunders, Salvatore Sciarrino, and many others.

On special occasions Explore Ensemble expands to perform works with larger instrumentations. For example, the ensemble gave the UK premiere of Sciarrino's song cycle ‘Carnaval’ with the EXAUDI Vocal Ensemble at hcmf// in 2018, and the first London performance of Romitelli's complete ‘Professor Bad Trip’ cycle at the RCM in 2014. The ensemble also works with guest soloists, for example, soprano Juliet Fraser, with whom the ensemble gave the UK premiere of Rebecca Saunders’ work ‘O Yes & I’; mezzo-soprano Lotte Betts-Dean, with whom the ensemble gave the UK premiere of Catherine Lamb’s ‘parallaxis forma’; and clarinetist Benjamin Mellefont, who gave the UK premiere of Kaija Sarriaho’s work ‘Figura’.

Explore Ensemble's work has been supported by organisations including Arts Council England, the Ernst von Siemens Musik Stiftung, PRS Foundation, Diaphonique, the Hinrichsen Foundation, the Vaughan Williams Foundation, the Genesis Foundation, and Acción Cultural Española.

Musicians

Taylor MacLennan, flute
Alex Roberts, clarinet
Sarah Park, piano
Siwan Rhys, piano
David López Ibáñez, violin
Morag Robertson, viola
Deni Teo, cello

Nicholas Moroz, co-founder, artistic director
Arne Gieshoff, co-founder, artistic adviser

Board of Directors

Richard Baker
Jackie Newbould
Sam Wigglesworth
Alex Wright

Partner Organisations & Funders