About Ensemble Sospeso

about ensemble sospeso

The Ensemble Sospeso is an ensemble of soloists producing concerts of contemporary music at the highest standard, giving performances described as "stunning" by the New York Times, "a wonder to watch" by the Wall Street Journal, "gorgeously rich" by the Village Voice.

Ensemble Sospeso's mission is to bring concert music written since 1960 to new and diverse audiences in live performance: in part, through collaborations with poets, painters, filmmakers, dancers, and other artists. Sospeso aims for a rich interpretation of contemporary music by presenting it in the widest possible cultural context.

Sospeso's commitment to interdisciplinary projects has found its expression in collaborations involving filmmakers such as Hal Hartley, Werner Herzog, and Nicholas Roeg; poets such as John Ashbery and Michel Deguy; museums such as the Guggenheim Museum and the Whitney Museum of American Art; and other institutions, like the IRCAM, the world's foremost electronic music studio and research facility.

The name sospeso is Italian for suspended: the suspension, or questioning, of cultural categories, of the place of music and its relationship to other media.

Ensemble Sospeso's history

both concerts were full of such moments, moments when time seemed special, when something was quietly happening that had never, in your experience, happened before | The New York Times

one of new yorkís best and brightest | The New Yorker

it makes all the difference when this music is played by consummate new music specialists like Ensemble Sospeso | andante.com

occasionally there comes along a concert that takes you by surprise and starts you listening all over again | The New York Times

a wonder to watch | The Wall Street Journal

stunning | The New York Times

simply exquisite | The Los Angeles Times

gorgeously rich | The Village Voice

stirring, expert, phenomenal | The Seattle Weekly

glorious | The New York Times

a great artistic imagination | Elliott Carter

how often is one exposed to works and performances that flirt so audaciously with the superhuman? | The New Music Connoisseur

sospeso has done it again, giving us a concert you're unlikely to find anywhere else | La Folia

dazzling | Time Out New York

superb, energetic, imaginative performances | Computer Music Journal