Solistenensemble Kaleidoskop

The Solistenensemble Kaleidoskop was founded in 2006. Originally conceived as a chamber orchestra, the ensemble has consistently transformed itself in search of new forms of music performance.

Under the direction of Michael Rauter and Daniella Strasfogel, Kaleidoskop regularly joins forces with other artists to create innovative music theater projects in which the musicians themselves are the protagonists. The core of the group consists of 15 string players, who are joined by guests according to the demands of each program. The flexibility of the musicians, who perform as soloists as well as in chamber music formations, is the hallmark of the ensemble. Their expertise is many-faceted, ranging from historical performance practice to contemporary repertoire, and the musicians draw on this wide pool of talent, playing with and mixing epochs, sound worlds and musical languages. In 2015 Tilman Kanitz took over the position of artistic director. The ensemble is funded by the cultural administration of the federal state of Berlin.

The group’s musical repertoire stretches from the early Baroque to the present day and includes commissioned works as well as pieces by the ensemble members themselves. Kaleidoskop works in close partnership with the Berlin performance space RADIALSYSTEM V and is a regular guest of festivals such as the Kunstfest Weimar, KunstFestSpiele Herrenhausen, Sydney Festival, Holland Festival, Operadagen Rotterdam, Operadhoy Madrid and Donaueschinger Musiktagen. In addition, Kaleidoskop was ensemble-in-residence at the Sommerliche Musiktage in Hitzacker from 2013–2015.

Kaleidoskop has performed in locations such as the Concertgebouw Brugge, Musiekgebouw Amsterdam, Harpa (Reykjavik, Iceland), Hellerau – European Center for the arts in Dresden, Kampnagel (Hamburg) and Berliner Festspiele and worked together with artists such as Sasha Waltz, Sabrina Hölzer, Christian Kesten, Laurent Chétouane, Aliénor Dauchez, Alexander Charim and the band Mouse on Mars.
The Solistenensemble Kaleidoskop has produced recordings of works by Joseph Haydn, Johann Sebastian Bach, Georg Friedrich Haas, Iannis Xenakis,Claude Vivier and Giovanni Sollima on the Sony and ARS Produktion labels.

www.kaleidoskopmusik.de