Continuo Connect — Profile // Ensemble Molière

Ensemble Molière have gained a reputation as an established early music ensemble. Their unique combination of instruments provides memorable and creative programmes from the repertoire of the 17th and 18th centuries, all performed on historical instruments. 

Ensemble Molière have been selected as the first-ever Radio 3 New Generation Baroque Ensemble for two years from October 2021, a new scheme run in partnership by BBC Radio 3, the National Centre for Early Music and the Royal College of Music. During their NGBE tenure, they have been featured regularly on BBC Radio 3’s Early Music Show, as well as broadcasting a BBC Lunchtime Concert for International Women’s Day 2023, which included a new commission by Sarah Cattley and a collaboration with the soprano Ruby Hughes. They have also performed at the York Christmas Festival and the Beverley Early Music Festival.

As finalists at the York Early Music International Young Artists Competition and Future Baroque Artists at the London Festival of Baroque Music, they have given concerts throughout the UK and Europe, including the MAfestival fringe in Brugge and the Oudemuziek Fringe Festival in Utrecht.

The ensemble have also premiered a cross arts opera project, Pygmalion, part funded by Arts Council England and supported by Stroud Green Festival and BREMF. Ensemble Molière have been invited to perform live on BBC3 In Tune on several occasions.

To celebrate the 400th anniversary of French playwright and actor Molière, the ensemble joined forces with two clowns to create a new music theatre show, exploring Molière’s world through his words and the music of his time, which premiered in London in July 2022. Future projects include appearances at the Buxton and Lammemuir Festivals, and the release of the ensemble’s first full album on Linn Records in early 2024.