Asko/Schönberg
AskoSchönberg is a Dutch music ensemble that specialises in contemporary classical music, especially that of the 21st century. It was formed by a merging of the Asko Ensemble and the Schönberg Ensemble in 2009. On 4 September 2025 the ensemble changed its name to Het Muziek.
Asko Ensemble
Formed in 1965 and based in Amsterdam, the Asko Ensemble performed regular concerts along with film music programs, dance and multimedia projects, and modern opera. The ensemble was conducted the first five years by Jan Vriend and subsequent working with Cliff Crego. Riccardo Chailly, Oliver Knussen, Reinbert de Leeuw, George Benjamin, Stefan Asbury, and Peter Rundel.The Asko Ensemble has released nearly one hundred recordings, featuring works by Louis Andriessen, Roberto Carnevale, Elliott Carter, György Ligeti, Bruno Maderna, Olivier Messiaen, Edgard Varèse, Claude Vivier, Iannis Xenakis, and many others.
First performances include:
- Brian Ferneyhough's Terrain.
- Karlheinz Stockhausen's Orchester-Finalisten from Mittwoch aus Licht and Glanz from Klang.
- Elliott Carter's Asko Concerto conducted by Oliver Knussen.
- Ligeti's Hamburg Concerto with its dedicatee, Marie Luise Neunecker.
- Michel van der Aa's opera After Life.
- Ermis Theodorakis' Music for 5.
- Mary Finsterer's In Praise of Darkness, which won the A$25,000 Paul Lowin Orchestral Prize for 2009.
- Julian Anderson's The Comedy of Change.
- Lonneke van Leth Producties’ De Odyssee, composed by Maxim Shalygin
- Rozalie Hirs's parallel sea to the lighthouse with its dedicatees, Ernestine Stoop and Godelieve Schrama.
Schönberg Ensemble
The Schönberg Ensemble was founded in 1974 by students and former students of the Royal Conservatory of The Hague.Their original repertoire consisted only of the chamber music of composers of the Second Viennese School. Afterwards, the repertoire was expanded to the entire twentieth century. A large number of Dutch and foreign composers wrote works specifically for the Schönberg Ensemble.
Concerts were given with constantly changing combinations of players, as contemporary classical repertoire often requires unusual combinations of instruments. If a larger ensemble was required, the ensemble joined with the Asko Ensemble.
The Schönberg Ensemble was based in the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ in Amsterdam, where the ensemble gave regular concerts. In addition, they also played regularly at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and several other venues in the Netherlands. The ensemble toured almost all of the countries of Europe, and also Canada, the United States, India, and Japan.