Arxis Ensemble is a group devoted to the exploration, dissemination, and performance of contemporary repertoire from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. With the aim of actively enriching today’s musical landscape, the ensemble focuses its work on the dialogue between the fundamental works of the past century and the new currents of contemporary sound creation.
Formed by performers from diverse geographical and artistic backgrounds, Arxis Ensemble shares a common drive: a specialization in contemporary music acquired in some of the most influential European institutions of today’s musical scene. This diverse and cosmopolitan background translates into an activity marked by collaborations with international composers and engagement with multiple aesthetics —from interdisciplinary and performative approaches to the most advanced instrumental research— always reinterpreted from a distinctive, thoroughly contemporary viewpoint.
The members of the ensemble develop their careers at a moment of generational transition between the great creators of the second half of the twentieth century and the emerging voices of the twenty-first. Their work builds bridges between both centuries, combining the pursuit of technical excellence with the assimilation of the most innovative processes of sound experimentation. In this way, Arxis Ensemble revisits works from the recent contemporary repertoire from a sustainable perspective, offering new readings and fostering the vitality of today’s music.
During its first season in 2022, Arxis Ensemble was conducted by Beat Furrer, with whom it presented the Spanish premiere of his work Akusmata, in collaboration with the Austrian vocal ensemble Cantando Admont. The group also worked with guest conductor Aitor Vázquez Torres and resident composer Igor C. Silva, carrying out several activities and concerts around the centenary of the birth of Iannis Xenakis, which culminated in the performance of the percussion sextet Pléïades within the framework of the 5th RESIS Contemporary Music Festival.
From 2023 to the present, Arxis has taken part in some of Spain’s most prestigious contemporary music festivals, including ENSEMS, the Canary Islands International Music Festival (Contemporary Festival), and RESIS, where it appears annually as ensemble in residence since its foundation. Internationally, its performances include concerts at the Royal Academy of Spain in Rome, the Biermans-Lapôtre Foundation in Paris, the Rathenower Tage für Neue Musik festival (Germany), and the Nuova Consonanza Festival (Italy).
In this context, Arxis Ensemble has presented numerous Spanish and Galician premieres of works by some of today’s most relevant composers, such as Rebecca Saunders, Beat Furrer, Alberto Posadas, Sara Glojnarić, Helmut Lachenmann, Wolfgang Rihm, Rolf Riehm, Jacobo Gaspar, and José Manuel López López, as well as world premieres of Hugo Gómez-Chao, Igor C. Silva, and Claudia Cañamero, among others.
Throughout its career, Arxis has worked with conductors such as Bas Wiegers, Beat Furrer, Armando Merino, Nacho de Paz, Aitor Sánchez Torres, and Daniel Huertas, performing in venues such as Palau de Les Arts (Valencia); Espacio CajaCanarias (Santa Cruz de Tenerife); Teatro Guiniguada (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria); Kulturzentrum Rathenow (Brandenburg, Germany); Casa de las Máquinas and Cidade da Cultura (Santiago de Compostela); and, in A Coruña, Teatro Rosalía de Castro, Castillo de San Antón, Igrexa de Santiago, Palexco Exhibition Hall, Teatro Colón, Domus Museum, Museum of Fine Arts, and the Rectorate Auditorium of the University of A Coruña.
