Post-Classical Ensemble

The Washington, D.C.-based PostClassical Ensemble is an experimental group dedicated to the presentation of unfamiliar music and to performing classical music in new contexts. The group terms itself "an experimental orchestral laboratory." The PostClassical Ensemble was founded in 2003 by conductor Angel Gil-Ordóñez and music historian and concert producer Joseph Horowitz and was helped along by a $200,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. They continue to hold leadership roles in the organization, with Gil-Ordóñez holding the title of music director, and Horowitz as executive producer. From the beginning, the PostClassical Ensemble held "the conviction that musical events demand a sense of occasion, and that this criterion has been sacrificed to familiarity and routine." The group made its debut in 2005 with a performance of Manuel de Falla's puppet opera El Retablo de Maese Pedro. It performed at various locations in the Washington area, often joining forces with theatrical, dance, or cinema presentations. The PostClassical Ensemble's musical repertory tends toward neglected composers of the Western hemisphere, including Lou Harrison, Bernard Herrmann, and Silvestre Revueltas. The group has attracted various collaborators, including bass-baritone Kevin Deas, pipa virtuoso Min Xiao-fen, and pianist Jeremy Denk. In the fall of 2017, the PostClassical Ensemble became ensemble-in-residence at Washington National Cathedral. It has also maintained ongoing relationships with Georgetown University and the National Gallery of Art. The ensemble also established, with Deas as Resident Artist, the American Roots Initiative, which has the goal of exploring little-known aspects of the history of African-American music. In 2016, the PostClassical Ensemble performed the scores of three classic American documentary films, The Plow that Broke the Plains and The River, by Virgil Thomson, and The City, by Aaron Copland, accompanying the films themselves. These performances were recorded for release on the Naxos label, which has also issued two more albums by the group: one featuring the music of Harrison, and the other, in 2020, including the music of Herrmann.
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