Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective

Britain's Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective is a shifting ensemble of musicians with a single aim: the celebration of diversity in all its forms. The group has attracted interest and participation from some of Britain's most prominent musicians. Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective was formed in 2017 by composer and pianist Tom Poster and violinist Elena Urioste. Both remain active outside the group; Poster has been commissioned for new works by trumpeter Alison Balsom, among others, and Urioste, an alumna of the Sphinx Organization, is a member of the Chineke! Orchestra and maintains a series of yoga retreats for musicians. The pair believes that "chamber music has an extraordinary power to bring people together: it unites musicians as equals, allowing them to learn from and be inspired by each other, and draws listeners in to its intimate, transportive world." The Collective offers chamber concerts that feature Poster, Urioste, and often both, in combination with other musicians in sympathy with their aims. The list of players who have participated in Kaleidoscope concerts or plan to do so is long and includes such prominent names as Balsom, violinist Nicola Benedetti, baritone Roderick Williams, and several members of the Kanneh-Mason family. By the fall of 2017, the group was playing frequent concerts, including one at London's St. John's Smith Square. The Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective was in residence at the Kirker Ischia Music Festival in Italy in 2018, the UK's Cheltenham Music Festival in 2019, and Wigmore Hall in early 2020. The group remained active through the coronavirus pandemic with online and some live performances, plus a live appearance on BBC Radio 3's In Tune Christmas Special, performing music by Reynaldo Hahn and Florence Price; many Kaleidoscope concerts include music by nonwhite composers and by women. In 2021, the group, with Poster and Urioste, violinist Melissa White, violist Rosalind Ventris, cellist Laura van der Heijden, and bass Matthew Rose, released its first album, American Quintets, featuring works by Amy Beach, Samuel Barber, and Price.
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