Gabriela Ortiz Curates ENSEMBLE CONNECT: UP CLOSE CONCERT At Carnegie Hall January 27

Ensemble Connect kicks off the sixth season of its Up Close series in collaboration with Carnegie Hall's Debs Composer's Chair Gabriela Ortiz on Monday, January 27 at 7:30 PM in the Weill Music Room of Carnegie Hall's Resnick Education Wing.

This intimate performance, curated by Ortiz, features music exclusively written by living Latin American composers, and is presented as part of Carnegie Hall's season-long festival Nuestros sonidos: Celebrating Latin Culture in the US. In this concert, Ensemble Connect performs the world premiere of Gritos de Fuego, Patrias de Papel by Carolina Noguera (commissioned by Carnegie Hall) alongside music by Ms. Ortiz, Carlos Sánchez-Gutiérrez, Ileana Perez Velazquez, Ricardo Lorenz, and Alejandro Cardona.

Ensemble Connect's Up Close performances explore different approaches to presenting classical music by experimenting with concert formats, audience engagement, and multimedia to activate the performance space in exciting new ways. A second Up Close performance in collaboration with the Balla Kouyaté and Mike Block Duo follows on Friday, May 9 at 7:30 p.m.

Other upcoming performance highlights include Ensemble Connect's return to Weill Recital Hall on Monday, February 10 at 7:30 p.m. to offer the New York premieres of musica spolia (arr. for chamber ensemble) and musica nuvola by Katherine Balch (both commissioned by Carnegie Hall). Their performance also features Schubert's unfinished "Quartettsatz" in C Minor, D. 703, Berio's Ricorrenze for Wind Quintet as part of Carnegie Hall's Boulez centenary focus, and Beethoven's Septet in E-flat Major, Op. 20.

Ensemble Connect offers their final Weill Recital Hall performance this season on Thursday, April 10 at 7:30 p.m., reprising a collaboration with Gabriela Ortiz to present Denibée-Yucuñana, her four-movement tribute to Oaxaca-born painter Rufino Tamayo. Their concert also nods to the worldwide Year of Czech Music celebration with a rare presentation of Martinů's Nonet. Mozart's grand String Quintet in C Major, K. 515 completes the performance.

Ensemble Connect

Ensemble Connect is made up of extraordinary young professional classical musicians residing in the US who take part in a two-year fellowship program created in 2007 by Carnegie Hall, The Juilliard School, and the Weill Music Institute in partnership with the New York City Department of Education. The program prepares fellows for careers that combine musical excellence with teaching, community engagement, advocacy, entrepreneurship, and leadership by offering top-quality performance opportunities, intensive professional development, and partnerships throughout the fellowship with New York City public schools.

On the concert stage and in schools and communities, Ensemble Connect has earned accolades from critics and audiences alike for the quality of the concerts, the fresh and open-minded approach to programming, and the ability to actively engage any audience.

Exemplary performers, dedicated teachers, and passionate advocates of music throughout the community, the forward-looking musicians of Ensemble Connect are redefining what it means to be a musician in the 21st century.

For more information about Ensemble Connect, visit ensembleconnect.org.