Ensemble MidtVest

Ensemble MidtVest (EMV) is a versatile group of international musicians based in Denmark, known for the high-quality of its chamber music concerts, as well as for creating innovative musical experiences both on and off stage. Often experimenting with new formats, the Ensemble sheds new light on a wealth of repertoire from the past 500 years through lively and touching interpretations. It also creates free improvisation born of the moment and generates cross-over collaborations with a variety of artists outside the classical music sphere.

Established in 2002, EMV consists of nine classical musicians: a string trio, a wind quintet, and a pianist. It plays around 100 concerts a year in Denmark and abroad, and has performed at Carnegie Hall in New York, the Nordic Museum in Seattle, Kings’ Place in London, as well as at Musikfestspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Rio International Chamber Music Week, ULTIMA Festival in Oslo, the Vale of Glamorgan Festival in Wales, and Mantova Chamber Music Festival in Italy.

EMV works regularly with high-profile musicians. Partners have included: Pekka Kuusisto, Tai Murray, Alexandra Soumm (violin), Jennifer Stumm (viola), Torleif Thedéen, Christoph Richter, Andreas Brantelid, Matthew Barley (cello), Knut Erik Sundquist (double bass), Martin Fröst, Charles Neidich, Johannes Peitz (clarinet), Alexander Lonquich, Christian Ihle Hadland, Christina Bjørkøe, Aleksandar Madžar (piano), Johannes Fischer (percussion), Christina Landshamer, Brit-Tone Müllertz (soprano), Bo Skovhus (baritone), Per Arne Glorvigen, Paolo Russo (bandonion), The Danish String Quartet and Trio con Brio Copenhagen.

Between 2014 and 2018, the world-class bassoonist Sergio Azzolini worked with EMV as an artistic consultant with a focus on the Historically Informed Performance of Baroque and Early Classical music. The well-known jazz pianist, Carsten Dahl was artistic consultant from 2007-2017 in the field of free improvisation. Together with Dahl, the musicians embarked on a ground-breaking journey, developing their own improvisational language and perfecting their musical intuition and collective dialogue.

EMV has recorded 24 CDs and was featured in hundreds of radio broadcasts. Among numerous accolades, recordings of piano quartets by Mozart and Brahms won the Danish Broadcasting Corporation’s P2 prize for “Best Danish CD”. In 2020, the critically acclaimed “Whirl’s World” album with works by Per Nørgård was nominated for a Gramophone Award.

EMV’s motto, “music is a right, not a privilege”, signals its mission to ensure that everyone has equal access to top-quality classical music, including those who live in more rural areas or might face disadvantaged circumstances. Apart from traditional concerts, EMV is committed to outreach projects for both children and adults, as well as talent development. Creating a personal relationship with our audience and inspiring young musicians are integral to the Ensemble’s vision of carrying the transformative power and relevance of classical music into the 21^st century.

EMV is based at HEART – Herning Museum of Contemporary Art and it is funded by the Danish Arts Foundation as well as three municipalities: Herning, Holstebro and Struer.

Focus areas

We arrange musical experiences with outset in the classical repertoire of the past 500 years and free improvisation.

Our traditional chamber concerts include series of concerts such as “the classical series”, with the best and most popular works from the chamber repertoire, portrait concerts of the musicians in the ensemble, and concerts with internationally recognised soloists and partners from Denmark and abroad.

One of our most important tasks is to ensure that children and young people in our local area can experience quality classical music and meet local professional musicians.

We do this through our family concerts, our talent-development projects and by giving concerts in school classrooms.

Through our outreach activities, we allow audiences to meet our music in other frameworks, for example when we play for housing associations, hospital wards or in private homes.

These intimate formats bring the music right up close to the audience: they strengthen existing communities or help form entirely new ones.