City on the Elbe = ELBIPOLIS. Or, as residents of Hamburg say: “the Gateway to the World”. This is how the Baroque orchestra Elbipolis regards itself. As an ensemble with local roots and a passion for Hamburg's own musical history, it also fully open to the rest of the world in order to make new musical discoveries. The ensemble was founded by the violinist Jürgen Groß in 1999.
The ensemble, made up of musicians from Bremen, Hamburg, and Berlin, has achieved a lot since its formation. Elbipolis has received invitations to the Kölner Philharmonie, NDR Hamburg's Das Alte Werk, BOZAR to festivals including the Schleswig Holstein Musik Festival, Bachfest Leipzig, Musikfestspiele Potsdam Sanssouci, Tage Alter Musik Herne, Bremer Musikfest, Rheingau-Musikfestival, Händel Musikfestspiele Halle, Nidersächsische Musiktage and MA Musica Antiqua Brugge, appearing with artists like Nuria Rial, Hille Perl and Maurice Steger.
Since 2008, Elbipolis has accompanied the Schleswig Holstein Musik Festival Choir under the direction of Rolf Beck, as well as the NDR Choir under the direction of Philipp Ahmann.
2009 Elbipolis recorded a Christmas CD with Deborah York on the Edel Classics label and 2010 George Frideric Handel’s Judas Maccabaeus under the baton of Rolf Beck for Deutsche Harmonia Mundi. Two of the ensembles earlier CD’s, “Don Quichotte in Hamburg” and “Musik der Pfeffersäcke” (with soprano Yeree Suh), have both received high praise from specialized press, as well as the latest release devoted to the composer Johan Christian Schieferdecker for Challenge Classics.
In 2008 Elbipolis began a series of Baroque Lounge concerts, which, in co-operation with NDR, Radialsystem V Berlin and Kampnagel in Hamburg, combine Baroque music together with the artistry of some of Europe's leading DJ’s, including Tim Exile and Brezel Göring. 2013 Simone Kermes will join the ensemble for a Baroque Lounge at the Dresdner
Musikfestspiele. |