Ara Ensemble

ara-ensemble

The contemporary chamber music ensemble Ara Ensemble was founded in October 1993 at the Academy of Music in Krakow in the Department of Contemporary Music, directed by Professor Adam Kaczyński. Ara Ensemble combines different styles and aesthetic conventions. They perform works representing a cross-section of music trends of the twentieth century: from impressionism, through serialism, graphic music, to the latest artistic ideas; sound experiments, instrumental theatre combining music with other arts. The main aim of the group is to promote chamber music by Polish composers of the second half of the twentieth and early twenty-first century, working both at home and abroad. In 1994, Ara Ensemble was honoured at the Contemporary Music Competition for Young Performers in Warsaw.In 1995, the ensemble took part in the International Gaudeamus Interpreters Competition in Rotterdam (The Netherlands).

In September, 1999, they were awarded a special prize for the interpretation of a piece of graphic work by Roman Haubenstock – Ramati „Constellations” at the Fifth International Competition of Young Culture in Düsseldorf (Germany). In 2005 they recorded a CD for the Canadian Composers’ Association in Edmonton. The group has performed in Poland, Denmark, Switzerland, Holland, Germany, France, and South Korea. They have has also participated in many festivals, reviews and music seminars in Poland. The ensemble comprise Renata Guzik (flute), Jakub Sztencel (clarinet), Michał Dąbek (cello) and Sławomir Kokosz (piano); other musicians are invited when needed.