Welcome! Were proud to finally present our Ensemble Mirage website; with the support of St. John's Smith Square and designed by AIM Limited.  Thank you for taking the time to browse our website. If you are interested, below is a more detailed look at our aims as an ensemble and how we came to be.

Ensemble Mirage continues to evolve, but we began with much smaller roots as a Clarinet/Violin Piano Trio called Trio Mirage; with myself on clarinet, Hungarian violinist Júlia Pusker and Romanian pianist Alexandra Vaduva. The three of us met during our studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London. In our very first project together we chose to perform Bela Bartok's rewarding but extremely complicated Contrasts, Sz.111 under guidance from Júlia’s teacher, the internationally renowned violinist György Pauk. It was an inspirational experience for us, and Bartok’s Contrasts remains a group favourite, but it prompted us to explore further repertoire in this fascinating and unique medium. 

We had soon explored the majority of major works for the medium and are passionate about finding and promoting lesser known works, bringing them to a wider audience. During our time as Chamber Music Fellows at the Royal Academy of Music we had a fantastic time working with the composers on new works for the ensemble, experimenting with the unique sounds and blends possible with this combination and learning about the complicated commissioning process. 

During the Fellowship, the larger Ensemble Mirage started to take shape with our invitation to the Two Moors Festival in 2015, where we had the privilege to perform Messiaen's epic Quartet for the End of Time in the most beautiful church setting and atmospheric dim lighting. The experience was a pivotal moment for us. Around the same time, my colleague on the Countess of Munster Recital Scheme (Ugne Tiskute) and I were each asked for some programmes of Clarinet/Viola/Piano Trios. Alexandra, Ugne and I had actually experimented with the trio back in our first year of undergraduate at the Academy 6 years prior! It was a great reunion and we tentatively called ourselves the Europia Trio.... The name was short lived however as the flexi-ensemble took form and we merged under the name Ensemble Mirage; bringing the whole range of Clarinet-String-Piano chamber repertoire under one roof. 

Although we have not been formed long as of this publication, each of us brings an extreme passion for chamber music to the ensemble. It is our belief the intimate process of learning established and exciting new works together as an ensemble (along with the inevitable artistic disagreements!) helps you evolve both individually and as a group; and is a vital part of chamber music making and forming your own unique voice as an ensemble. 

Our primary mission is to promote awareness and bring to the attention of wider audiences the fascinating array of existing masterpieces and lesser known gems for the varied neglected chamber mediums. We hope to continue commissioning works and further add to the exciting repertoire while making it all fun and accessible to new audiences.

We'll keep you updated on upcoming projects and collaborations on our social media pages, so if interested please follow us. For more detail we'll blog on our news page here as we continue to evolve. Lots of exciting ideas, so stay tuned!

Our 'flexes page' details what each flex of our ensemble has to offer; and will grow as we continue to evolve. Feel free to browse our website and please contact us here if you have any booking enquiries or questions, we'd be happy to help.

We hope you like our new website and are excited to take Ensemble Mirage to the next stage. We hope you will join us on this exciting journey.

Matthew Scott