Ensemble Oxalys
was founded in 1993 by a group of ambitious young students from the Brussels Conservatory of Music. Since then the ensemble has developed into one of the most esteemed professional chamber music groups in Flanders. The composition of this ensemble remains open to new musicians in order to complete an original string quintet, a flute player, a clarinet player and a harp player, which permits to interpret a broader repertoire and to realize uncommon projects.

It performs on some of the world's finest platforms and plays at the most prestigious festivals. Each of these former students has now also built up an international career of their own. Yet they still like to travel back to their home base in Brussels from their various European capitals to continue work on their shared project, Oxalys. The ensemble's primary aim is to tell the European cultural story since the Enlightenment, at the highest possible standard and with the greatest directness.

They also wish to give a musical interpretation of the connections and contrasts across borders and eras that are found in this story. But in addition to this philosophical aspect, the beating heart of Oxalys remains the pure pleasure of performing and their absolute love of music: all music. The itinerant concerts "Nuits de la Musique" organized by this ensemble are immersed in such a spirit: they take place in remarkable historical sites, which can be perceived differently, thanks to the symbiosis created between architecture, music and light. Those events have received a warm success for several years now. The Ensemble gathers musicians who are happy to share popular, contemporary and new musical adventures such as collaborations with theaters. As a parallel activity, Oxalys is involved in various educative projects.

The Ensemble is a regular performer at the Festival de Flandres , Festival de Wallonie, and at the Ars Musica festival. They played in the most important Belgium concert halls: the Bozar, the Singel, the Concertgebouw in Bruges. During their international tour, they had the occasion to give concerts at the Schleswig-Holstein in Germany, at the Kennedy Center and at the Library of Congress in Washington, at the St Petersburg Philharmonia in Russia and in other venues in the USA, in the United Arab Emirates, in China and in Japan. Regularly, their concerts are broadcast by European radios.

Oxalys received a prize from the Fondation Euphonia and worked in collaboration with Alban Berg in order to record a CD entirely dedicated to Richard Strauss. The discography of the ensemble also includes works from Mozart, the Impressionists, the Post-Impressionists and 2Oth century Russian Music. Those recordings received positive distinctions by the music press.

Oxalys is the Resident ensemble at the "Koninklijk Muziekconservatorium" of Brussels and it is supported by the Communauté Flamande.