DESCRIPTION:
...in rehearsal for a performance in New York City October 11th, 2007

Kenneth Sillito violin and leader
Harvey de Souza violin
Paul Ezergailis violin
Martin Burgess violin
Robert Smissen viola
Duncan Ferguson viola
Stephen Orton cello
John Heley cello

The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields was formed in 1959 by a group of eleven enthusiastic musicians with the aim of performing in public without a conductor. Their first three recordings led to a succession of long-term contracts, and the Academy quickly took their place among the most recorded ensembles in history. As the repertoire expanded from Baroque to Mozart, Bartok and Beethoven, so it became necessary for the principal violin, Neville Marriner, to conduct the larger orchestra.

The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble was created in 1967 to perform the larger chamber works—from quintets to octets—with players who customarily work together, instead of the usual string quartet with additional guests. Drawn from the principal players of the orchestra, the Chamber Ensemble tours as a string octet, string sextet, and in other configurations including winds. Its touring commitments are extensive, with annual visits to France, Germany, and Spain, and frequent tours to North and South America, Australia, New Zealand, and Taiwan.

The Ensemble's fall 2007 North American tour brings them to 10 cities, including (among others) New York, Chicago, Los Alamos, and Cedar Falls, IA.

Contracts with Philips Classics, Hyperion, and Chandos have led to the release of over thirty CDs by the Chamber Ensemble.