Ensemble XXI Moscow became the first international orchestra in Russia with both foreign and Russian membership. Irish Conductor Lygia O’Riordan, and Finnish Violinist Pia Siirala founded the Ensemble in 1989, after completing their studies at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory. Ensemble XXI Moscow is recognised in its foundation, membership and activity as living proof of the capacity of music to bring together people of diverse backgrounds and origins on a plane of understanding which recognises no borders.
The orchestra has played at venues ranging from the Vienna Konzerthaus to the Sydney Opera House, and has even touched on the exotic – a snow and ice-bound reindeer herders’ camp above the Arctic Circle
The Orchestra’s Pacific and Atlantic Rim Music Festivals seek to unite music lovers in remote communities throughout the world. This work has brought professional performances to audiences, which have never before had the opportunity to hear live classical music. Of particular importance is the orchestra's ongoing work to highlight the ancient music of Russia's indigenous communities from the Arctic Circle to the Far East and to bring about ties with other indigenous communities around the world. This is the first time that classical musicians have performed with indigenous people in Russia. A documentary film produced by the ABC, which travelled with the orchestra by helicopter to the Arctic Circle, has captured the imagination of television viewers around the world.
Guest conductors have included Gennady Rozhdestvensky and Richard Bonynge and the orchestra has worked closely with composers such as Arvo Pärt, Gordon Kerry and Sir Malcolm Arnold.
Now Ensemble XXI is about to commence a Circum Arctic Tour, highlighting the music of the Indigenous people throughout the Arctic Circle from Nordic Europe, through Russia, Alaska, Canada and Greenland.
The orchestra records fro the EnsembleGram label
