Formed in early 2001, the new london chamber ensemble (Lisa Nelsen – flute, Melanie Ragge – oboe, Neyire Ashworth – clarinet, Stephen Stirling – horn, and Sarah Burnett – bassoon) came together as a result of a passionate love of performance and a mutual desire to communicate their musical energy. To this end they have undertaken theatrical training, performed works from memory, staged and choreographed both music and the spoken word and commissioned new music. Their programmes range from the finest centrepieces of the chamber music repertoire to fully staged theatrical works, all designed to entertain, provoke, surprise and enthral their audiences.

The members of the nlce are all very highly established professional musicians whose orchestral and chamber music experience includes: Endymion Ensemble; London Mozart Players; The Fibonacci Sequence; The Academy of St Martins; Scottish Chamber Orchestra; Chamber Orchestra of Europe; Cambridge New Music Players; and The City of London Chamber Ensemble. Between them, they also work at some of Britain’s leading Conservatoires and Music Schools, including the Royal Academy of Music, Trinity College, Wells Cathedral School, and the Purcell School of Music.

The Ensemble’s mission to explore the theatrical and staging possibilities of performance has led to exciting collaborative work with a choreographer, inspiring several staged/semi-staged works in their repertoire, including Berio's Opus Number Zoo. It has also led them to commission a number of new works, the primary brief agreed with composers being to defy conventional styles of presentation and include theatrical elements. One of the first new commissions is scored for Quintet and Metronome; written by Edward Longstaff, it is entitled Public/Private and is due to be premiered in 2003. A second commission, also by Edward Longstaff, entitled Doublings and Couplings was premiered to great acclaim at the International Double Reed Conference in Banff, August 2002. In addition, John Woolrich is writing a work for the quintet in celebration of his 50^th birthday.

The nlce has an affiliation to the National Youth Sinfonia of Great Britain; this is a first class Chamber Orchestra for talented young musicians, which performs without conductor. Their work involves coaching orchestral and chamber music repertoire in preparation for bi-annual concerts. In addition, they have given two concerts as part of their Easter residencies with the orchestra. The nlce is also committed to taking music into schools and other institutions, particularly those that may lack exposure to the arts, increasing accessibility through their work with actors and dancers.

The nlce combined with percussionist Adrian Spillet and narrators Prunella Scales & Timothy West to give the first performance of Ted Watson’s new arrangement of William Walton's Façade, at the Two Moors Festival. They gave a recital which included work by Malcolm Forsyth, Jacques Ibert and Jim Parker, as well as their staged version of Berio’s Opus Number Zoo at Canada House, and collaborated with pianist Caroline Palmer for a programme of chamber music ranging from Poulenc to Ligeti at Forde Abbey. Internationally, the nlce have performed at the Pacific Rim Festival on Vancouver Island, and at the IDRS Conference in Banff. In Banff they also undertook a period of residency to work on music/theatre projects, culminating in a highly successful premiere of the newly commissioned theatre piece entitled Doublings and Couplings, by Edward Longstaff. The quintet’s residency at the 2003 Swaledale Festival will give include the UK premieres of Doublings and Couplings, Public/Private, a chamber music series of concerts including works for piano and winds, a collaboration with the resident string quartet and a lecture demonstration of work in progress.

In the UK, they will undertake a residency with East Sussex Wind Orchestra in July 2003, including concerts and coaching at Bryanston College, and will give the launch concert of the Borenstein Festival at St James’s, Piccadilly. The nlce has been invited to re-visit Canada, with the possibility of a residency at the Vancouver Chamber Festival. They have also received an invitation to give a series of concerts in central venues in Moscow in 2004. Future plans also include strengthening links with the London College of Music and Media, with a view to working in collaboration with students to explore the use of multimedia in the Ensemble’s work as well as recording and documenting current repertoire.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT the new london chamber ensemble:

 “Each player in the ensemble is a virtuoso, but as a group they seem to have effortlessly acquired those essential chamber music skills of ‘give and take’, which would grace a long-established string quartet.”

Guy Woolfenden

“…. a young, talented and imaginative addition to the Chamber Music scene. Friendly people, brilliant musicians…”

Prunella Scales & Timothy West

“…. they have a style which is refreshing, challenging and totally unique. One minute you think you are watching a normal concert, the next minute they are in the audience playing next to you. Don’t just go and listen; go and watch, because it is a rare and wonderful thing to see a classical quintet use voice and choreography to turn an event into one that should not be missed.”

Danny Scheinmann