Phaedra Ensemble makes music that exists in the spaces between classical, contemporary, and experimental worlds. Formed by violinist and Artistic Director Phillip Granell, the group began as a string quartet and has grown into a flexible collective of musicians from London’s chamber and contemporary music scene.

 

In 2026, they will release their debut album Realms, made in collaboration with the legendary vocalist and composer Meredith Monk, featuring her only string quartet Stringsongs, alongside two larger ensemble works. Other recent highlights include the world premiere of Ed Jessen’s opera Plantation A at Grimeborn Opera Festival 2024, and Jamie Hamilton’s Versionland on Danish label Don’t Look Back Records.

 

In 2023, they toured the UK with Gavin Bryars at 80, including a new reimagining of The Sinking of the Titanic by co-director Jamie Hamilton, and their London concert was featured on BBC Radio 3’s New Music Show.

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Their releases include Sonic Portraits with Mira Calix, Bishi Bhattacharya, and Love Ssega, and Taking a Nap, I Pound the Rice with Fred Thomas. Collaborators have ranged from Caroline Shaw, Masayoshi Fujita, Susheela Raman, Héloïse Werner, and Lotte Betts-Dean to RY X, the Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali Group, and Gondrong Gunarto.

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They have performed at King's Place, the Barbican, Café OTO, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room, the Royal Opera House, Howard Assembly Rooms, RWCMD, Cheltenham Festival, Little Missenden Festival, Music in the Round (Sheffield), NYU Arts Center Abu Dhabi, and La Seine Musicale Paris.