Ensemble Recherche has been dedicated to the new and unknown since 1985. From the time of its creation nearly four decades ago, the Freiburg-based ensemble has been shaping contemporary music and writing musical history, premiering more than 600 works and producing more than 50 CD recordings to date. The eight performer-members—all internationally renowned soloists—share a passion for experimentation, placing their exceptional musicality and creativity at the service of the ensemble and its collective research of the musical present.  

The ensemble is deeply committed to the future of contemporary music, seeking to pass on its spirit of research and curiostiy to the next generation through its pedagogical and outreach activities, such as school workshops, concerts for children, participative youth projects, and master classes. Through the long-running ‘Class Work’ project, the ensemble has worked with students of composition at conservatories and universities in Boston, Helsinki, Copenhagen, Linz, Freiburg, Antwerp, Reykjavik and Cambridge, among others. At the same time, long-term professional relationships with important composers of the 20th century (such as Helmut Lachenmann, Wolfgang Rihm, Salvatore Sciarrino, Gérard Grisey, Hans Abrahamsen and Hans Werner Henze) have ensured that the ensemble members are also experts in the historical performance practice of the music of the last century.