Augur Ensemble
Biography Augur Ensemble
AUGUR ENSEMBLE
an AUGUR was a very prestigious and well paid governmental position in ancient Rome. his task was to predict the future by watching the birds fly or even cutting them up and do a forecast by vivisection. AUGUR ENSEMBLE doesn’t make use of birds or intestins, nor do the 5 augurians claim to foresee the future – they rather go for the other part of anticipation: fearlessly facing the unknown by playing crooked melodies, twisted rhythms and unpredictable soundscapes. AUGUR ENSEMBLE consists of young and upcoming musicians from Switzerland, Norway and Sweden. focused on working as a collective with „open-source“ compositions and reworking the material with an improv-approach, the ensemble goes back to a very old manner of making music: composing, arranging and improvising are considered as equal artistic gestures. the rich sound of the ensemble is an important anchor of the creative work and combines traditional and extended playing techniques. this may reach from instrumental songs, 4part-chorals, percussive layers, shimmering drone sounds to soft noise structures. the word „chambermusic“ is mostly related to the dynamic spectrum: augur ensemble does not provide the big blast, but sensitive and versatile interaction between players and the room.
