Orion Ensemble, Ensemble

Biography

Recognized as one of Chicago's finest chamber music groups, the Orion
Ensemble is celebrating its thirteenth year. John von Rhein of The
Chicago Tribune calls Orion "one of Chicago's most vibrant, versatile
and distinctive ensembles." With the possibilities inherent in its
unique combination of instruments - piano, string trio, and clarinet -
Orion offers exciting interpretations of standard repertoire,
introduces audiences to rarely-performed masterpieces, and inspires
composers with commissions for new works. Orion's cutting-edge programs
feature diverse works by composers ranging from Mozart and Brahms to
William Bolcom and Chick Corea to Paul Schoenfield and Augusta Read
Thomas.

The Orion Ensemble boasts a roster of five superb musicians who have
performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony,
Moscow Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Chicago Lyric Opera
Orchestra, and Chicago's Music of the Baroque orchestra, and at music
festivals including Ravinia, Aspen, Mostly Mozart, Hollywood Bowl, Taos
Chamber Music, Salzburg, and Banff. In Chicago, Orion presents an
annual four-concert series in three venues, is heard regularly on the
broadcast series "Live from WFMT" and appears frequently on the Chicago
Cultural Center's Lunchbreak Series, "Classical Mondays." Orion also
tours, performing on chamber music series across the country.

The Orion Ensemble received a Chamber Music America/ASCAP Award for
Adventurous Programming for its critically acclaimed millennium
celebration, "An Inside Look at Contemporary Music." The group is
currently an Ensemble in Residence at Roosevelt University's Chicago
College of Performing Arts and is on the official artist roster for the
Illinois Arts Council ARTSTOUR Program.

This is the Orion Ensemble's first recording for Cedille Records. In
2003, the group released its own acclaimed CD, A Celebration of
American Chamber Music, featuring works by four outstanding
contemporary American composers: Peter Schickele, Augusta Read Thomas,
Jackson Berkey, and Robert Kritz.