Over recent years Ensemble Thing has moved from strength to strength in becoming a contemporary music ensemble at the forefront of the current Scottish music scene. In 2011, Ensemble Thing recorded music by John De Simone for the hauntingly beautiful work Alma Mater which became an instant Fringe Festival hit and subsequently toured Melbourne, London and Cologne. Our ensemble was invited to perform at the new music festival Verona Risuona, Italy in May 2012 and at the Handmade, Homegrown 2013 concert series in The Hague, The Netherlands. In the UK we have been invited to play in Manchester by contemporary music concert platform SOTEH, to represent contemporary music at the Aberdeen Sound Scotland Showcase and to perform at Glasgow’s John Cage festival. Glasgow based Ensemble Thing showcases some of the most promising young professional musicians currently based in Scotland who are committed to exploring and performing contemporary music. 


British-German composer Charlotte Bray is an esteemed and in-demand composer, exhibiting uninhibited ambition and desire to communicate. Her music is exhilarating, inherently vivid, and richly expressive with lyrical intensity. An Ivor Novello Award winner (2019), she uses her voice to spotlight global issues, including the refugee crisis, unification, terrorism, and humanity’s impact on nature. She is currently the Composer-in-Residence with L​’Orchestre de Chambre de Genève, which is a 3‑year position for the 2023/24 – 2025/26 seasons. 

Bray’s music has been performed and commissioned by institutions such as BBC Symphony and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestras, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Aurora Orchestra, and Birmingham Contemporary Music Group. Her work has featured at festivals in Aldeburgh, Cheltenham, Tanglewood, Aix-en-Provence, Verbier and Kuhmo, as well as with renowned conductors including Marin Alsop, Sir Mark Elder, Sakari Oramo, Oliver Knussen, Jessica Cottis, Daniel Harding, Duncan Ward, and Karina Canellakis.

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