ABOUT
crash

Hero Image of Crash Ensemble

Crash

ABOUT

We're Crash -
Ireland's leading new music ensemble


A group of world-class musicians who play the most adventurous, ground-breaking music of today.

Amazingly ordinary people doing extraordinary things - Crash are innovative, adventurous and ambitious.

Crash Ensemble team image

Led by our cellist and Artistic Director, Kate Ellis and Principal Conductor, Ryan McAdams, we commission, collaborate, explore, investigate and experiment with a broad spectrum of music creators and artistic collaborators. We love to innovate, with quality always at the heart of everything we do. 

We are passionate about the music we play. We create experiences; exploring new ways of presenting music and bringing our audiences on new adventures. 

Community for us is key - our community inspires us to create and experiment more. We value our audiences and our connection with them.

We perform both in Ireland and internationally. Our music is available on our own label, Crash Records and we have recordings on Nonesuch, Cantaloupe, NMC, Ergodos and Bedroom Community labels.

Crash Ensemble is strategically funded by the Arts Council of Ireland, revenue funded by Dublin City Council and is a resident ensemble at the National Concert Hall in Dublin, Ireland and Kilkenny Arts Festival, Ireland.


meet the Crash crew  

meet the Crash crew  

History


Crash Ensemble was founded in 1997 by composer Donnacha Dennehy, conductor and pianist Andrew Synnott and clarinettist Michael Seaver. Donnacha Dennehy is Crash Artistic Partner.

Crash made an immediate and lasting impact on the Irish arts and cultural landscape, with some of the most distinctive living composers writing for the group; Terry Riley, David Lang, Julia Wolfe, Michael Gordon, Donnacha Dennehy, Louis Andriessen, Jennifer Walshe, Arnold Dreyblatt, Kevin Volans, Ann Cleare, Glen Branca, Nico Muhly, Linda Buckley and Gerald Barry. 

As well as performing throughout Ireland, Crash regularly perform internationally, with appearances in the last few years at the Edinburgh International Festival, The Royal Opera House (London), The Barbican (London), Carnegie Hall (NYC) The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (Washington DC), Virginia Tech (Virginia), GAIDA Festival (Lithuania) and residencies at The Huddersfield Contemporary Music festival (UK) and Princeton University (NJ).

Crash Ensemble team image

Many well-known artists from diverse musical backgrounds have performed with the ensemble

Gavin Friday
Dawn Upshaw
Julie Feeney
Lisa Hannigan
Diamanda La Berge Dramm
Íarla Ó Lionáird (The Gloaming)
Bryce Dessner (The National)
Richard Reed Parry (Arcade Fire)
Sam Amidon and Beth Orton

Want to chat?

Contact us