Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective, hailed for its “exhilarating performances” (The Times), was dreamed up in 2017 by Tom Poster and Elena Urioste, who met through the BBC New Generation Artists Scheme. Kaleidoscope’s flexible roster features many of today’s most inspirational musicians, both instrumentalists and singers, and its creative programming is marked by an ardent commitment to celebrating diversity of all forms and a desire to unearth lesser-known gems of the repertoire.
In 2020, Kaleidoscope was appointed Associate Ensemble at Wigmore Hall, where the group makes multiple appearances each season, and was invited to give the Hall’s 120th birthday concert in May 2021. Kaleidoscope broadcasts regularly on BBC Radio 3 and has recently been ensemble-in-residence at Aldeburgh Festival, Kettle’s Yard, Ischia Music Festival, Chamber Music by the Sea (Maryland USA), and Cheltenham Festival, where the group gave several world premieres and collaborated with Sir Simon Russell Beale and the cast of The Lehman Trilogy.
Kaleidoscope’s debut recording for Chandos Records, American Quintets, features music by Amy Beach, Florence Price, and Samuel Barber. It received glowing reviews and a BBC Music Magazine Award nomination, and immediately led to an invitation to record a series of albums for the label. Two further albums, featuring chamber music by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn, were released in summer 2022 to widespread critical acclaim, with all three of Kaleidoscope’s albums so far being awarded Editor’s Choice in Gramophone. Their next album, Transfigured, featuring music of Schoenberg, Zemlinsky, Webern, and Alma Mahler, will be released in September 2023, with a three-disc series of the piano quartets of Brahms and his female contemporaries to follow.
Passionate about inspiring the next generation of musicians, Kaleidoscope has featured in Wigmore Hall’s Learning Festival, directed courses for the Benedetti Foundation, and holds a visiting professorship at the Royal Academy of Music for the 2022-23 academic year. Forthcoming performance highlights include concerts in London and Dortmund with Hilary Hahn, a debut at the BBC Proms, and a tour of the USA, with support provided by a Sphinx Organization MPower Artist Grant.