Asko/Schönberg

Formed in 1965 and based in Amsterdam, the Asko Ensemble performed regular concerts along with film music programs, dance and multimedia projects, and modern opera. The ensemble was conducted the first five years by Jan Vriend and subsequent working with Cliff Crego. Riccardo Chailly, Oliver Knussen, Reinbert de Leeuw, George Benjamin, Stefan Asbury, and Peter Rundel.

The Asko Ensemble has released nearly one hundred recordings, featuring works by Louis Andriessen, Roberto Carnevale, Elliott Carter, György Ligeti, Bruno Maderna, Olivier Messiaen, Edgard Varèse, Claude Vivier, Iannis Xenakis, and many others.{{Cite web|url=https://www.askoschoenberg.nl/cds-dvds/|title=CDs / DVDs » Asko{{!}}Schönberg|website=askoschoenberg.nl|language=nl-NL|access-date=2017-01-26}}

First performances include:

• Brian Ferneyhough's Terrain (Amsterdam, April 1992).
• Karlheinz Stockhausen's Orchester-Finalisten from Mittwoch aus Licht (Amsterdam, 14 June 1996) and Glanz from Klang (Amsterdam, 19 June 2008).
• Elliott Carter's Asko Concerto (Amsterdam, 26 April 2000) conducted by Oliver Knussen.{{Cite web|url=http://www.boosey.com/cr/music/Elliott-Carter-Asko-Concerto/15100|title=Elliott Carter – Asko Concerto|website=boosey.com|access-date=2017-01-26}}
• Ligeti's Hamburg Concerto (Hamburg, 20 January 2001) with its dedicatee, Marie Luise Neunecker.[https://archive.today/20120918114718/http://www.schott-music.com/shop/products/show,165679,,f.html Hamburg Concerto for Horn solo and Chamber Orchestra"],{{Dead link|date=January 2017}} Schott Music. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
• Michel van der Aa's opera After Life (Amsterdam, 6 February 2006).{{Cite web|url=http://www.boosey.com/pages/opera/moredetails.asp?site-lang=en&musicid=47511|title=Michel van der Aa – After Life – Opera|website=boosey.com|access-date=2017-01-26}}
• Ermis Theodorakis' Music for 5 (Amsterdam, 17 April 2006).{{Cite web|url=http://www.ermis-theodorakis.com/index.php?language=EN&page=compositions|title=Ermis Theodorakis|last=|first=|date=2011-10-02|website=|publisher=|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111002140344/http://www.ermis-theodorakis.com/index.php?language=EN&page=compositions|archive-date=2011-10-02|access-date=2017-01-26}}
• Mary Finsterer's In Praise of Darkness (Amsterdam, 23 April 2009), which won the A$25,000 Paul Lowin Orchestral Prize for 2009.{{Cite web|url=http://www.australianmusiccentre.com.au/about/paullowinprizes|title=Australian Music Centre Online : Breaking Sound Barriers|website=australianmusiccentre.com.au|access-date=2017-01-26}}
• Julian Anderson's The Comedy of Change (London, 8 September 2009).{{cite web | title=The Comedy of Change | website=Faber Music | date=4 November 2018 | url=https://www.fabermusic.com/music/comedy-of-change-the-5356 | access-date=4 January 2025}}
• Lonneke van Leth Producties’ De Odyssee, composed by Maxim Shalygin (Amsterdam, 13 August 2014){{Cite web |url=https://theaterencyclopedie.nl/wiki/De_Odyssee_-_Lonneke_van_Leth_Producties_-_2014-08-13 |title=De Odyssee – Lonneke van Leth Producties |author= |date= 23 August 2024|website=theaterencyclopedie.nl |publisher=TheaterEncyclopedie |language=nl |access-date=4 January 2025 |archive-url= |archive-date=}}
• Rozalie Hirs's parallel sea to the lighthouse (Utrecht, 13 May 2018) with its dedicatees, Ernestine Stoop and Godelieve Schrama.{{Cite web|url=https://www.askoschoenberg.nl/concertagenda/20172018/parallel-world-and-sea/|title=Parallel world and Sea – Dutch Harp Festival|website=askoschoenberg.nl|access-date=2019-01-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190128191131/https://www.askoschoenberg.nl/concertagenda/20172018/parallel-world-and-sea/|archive-date=2019-01-28|url-status=dead}}

The Schönberg Ensemble was founded in 1974 by students and former students of the Royal Conservatory of The Hague.

Their original repertoire consisted only of the chamber music of composers of the Second Viennese School. Afterwards, the repertoire was expanded to the entire twentieth (and twenty-first) century. A large number of Dutch and foreign composers wrote works specifically for the Schönberg Ensemble.

Concerts were given with constantly changing combinations of players, as contemporary classical repertoire often requires unusual combinations of instruments. If a larger ensemble was required, the ensemble joined with the Asko Ensemble.

The Schönberg Ensemble was based in the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ in Amsterdam, where the ensemble gave regular concerts. In addition, they also played regularly at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and several other venues in the Netherlands. The ensemble toured almost all of the countries of Europe, and also Canada, the United States, India, and Japan.

After performing and recording together many times, the Asko Ensemble and the Schönberg Ensemble merged on 1 September 2008 to become Asko|Schönberg,{{Cite web |title=Homepage |url=https://askoschoenberg.nl/ |access-date=2024-10-26 |website=Asko Schönberg |language=nl-NL}} with Reinbert de Leeuw as conductor. The new group formalised the union with a Messiaen concert on 1 January 2009.{{Cite web|url=http://www.askoschoenberg.nl/?page=informatie&subpage=overzicht_nieuws&optie=4|title=Het ensemble » Asko{{pipe}}Schönberg|website=askoschoenberg.nl|language=nl-NL|access-date=2017-01-26}}{{Failed verification|date=January 2017}} Asko|Schönberg focuses on developing new interdisciplinary work by living composers and music-theatre makers, and innovates concert practice with immersive techniques and scenography.

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• {{official|https://askoschoenberg.nl/}} {{in lang|nl|en}}

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Category:Contemporary classical music ensembles

Category:Musical groups from Amsterdam

Category:Musical groups established in 1965

Category:Arnold Schoenberg