Founded in 1983, regularly giving more than sixty concerts a year, and having performed in over forty different countries, the Schubert Ensemble is firmly established as one of the world’s leading exponents of chamber music for piano and strings. With a reputation for innovation in the field of new music, education and audience development, it has built up strong relationships with many of the UK’s leading composers, and has an impressive list of more than eighty commissions. Its vision in combining education and new music initiatives led to the creation of the groundbreaking national project Chamber Music 2000. In the recording studio the Ensemble has produced more than twenty critically acclaimed CDs of works by composers ranging from Hummel, Mendelssohn and Brahms to Martin Butler, Judith Weir and John Woolrich. It has appeared on television and radio in many countries and is familiar to British audiences through regular broadcasts on BBC Radio 3. The Schubert Ensemble is one of the few artist-led musical enterprises to win a National Lottery Award, which helped to launch three residencies in the South West of England. In 1998 the Royal Philharmonic Society recognised the group’s contribution to British musical life with its Best Chamber Ensemble Award. www.schubertensemble.com