The Sheridan Ensemble

An ensemble without artistic compromise, where the dreams of each individual member become reality - it is with this vision in mind that the cellist Anna Carewe founded the Sheridan Ensemble in 2007. The unique combination of instrumentalists who regularly work with some of Europe's leading orchestras and ensembles (Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie, Baseler Kammerorchester, Berliner Philharmoniker, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester, Ensemble Modern, Balthasar-Neumann-Ensemble, RIAS-Kammerchor, among others), a prize-winning Jazz artist, an international vocal star from the Musical and Cabaret world, a harpsichordist equally renowned for his interpretation of New and Baroque, as well as guests invited to join the ensemble for specific projects, serves as a melting pot for creativity with each member looking to cross the borders of his own musical world into a new realm.

Ever since making its first appearance at the „Ultraschall" Festival for New Musik in Berlin in 2008, the Sheridan Ensemble has earned the praise of the critics and public alike for its innovative programmes. Whether framing the expansiveness Morton Feldman with haiku-like miniatures by Howard Skempton, linking freely notated compositions of Christian Wolff and Bruno Maderna with solo recorder interludes or interlacing Couperin, Telemann, Messiaen and Kurt Weill with movements by Kaija Saariaho, a motto for many programmes is to put contrasting compositions side-by-side, letting them flow seamlessly from one to another, in order to stimulate the listener into hearing the music in a fresh way.

Nevertheless, with repertoire ranging from Diego Ortiz (around 1550), Dowland, Purcell, Couperin, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Schubert, Brahms, Schoenberg up to 20th and 21st composers from the Classical or Jazz world or the greats of the Musical and Cabaret scene, such as Gershwin or Weill, the Sheridan Ensemble is at home presenting almost any programme, whether mainstream or utterly original.

A selection of past performances include "Pierrot Lunaire, Berlin Cabaret, Weill on Broadway" (in London and Stuttgart - with multimedia), "Handel in London" (in Helsinki - on original instruments), "Programme in Three Parts: Spectral, Minimal, Theatrical" (in Lodz),  as well as their four programmes at the "Ultraschall" Festival in Berlin. Smaller ensemble groupings include the Duo programme "Cello meets Vibraphone" (500 years of music - part improvised) or the recordings of all seven known remaining string quartets of Carl Czerny, due to be released on CD in 2013.

The ensemble is named after the Irish writer, political satirist and politician Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751 - 1815), whose outspoken criticism of the British government on social and human rights issues once almost cost him his life. His friend Lord Byron once said of him: "Everything that Sheridan has done or chooses to do is par excellence the best of its kind" - words which serve both to inspire and challenge the musicians of the Sheridan Ensemble.