Pioneering a fresh approach to historical performance, Idrîsî Ensemble performs medieval repertoire from period manuscripts alongside UNESCO-protected and endangered traditions. We sing the Mediterranean not as a border between fixed identities, but as a space of exchange, communion, and evolution. Grounded in research across medieval literature, music archaeology, and postcolonial historiography, our work complicates inherited ideas of identity and alterity, asking what “early music” can sound like, and who it belongs to.

As the only UK collective specialising in the performance practice of Old Roman chant, we draw on the vocal traditions of late antiquity to shape how we approach early Mediterranean repertoire. Our programmes bring together medieval materials, living oral traditions, and new creative work, with performances that audiences describe as politically resonant and deeply moving.

Our projects adapt to different venues and audiences, from cathedrals and concert halls to festivals and experimental spaces, and extend to cross-genre collaborations with Jordan Rakei (Royal Albert Hall), Holly Herndon (KW Berlin), Florence & the Machine (Everybody Scream), and Ridley Scott (Napoleon).

Over the past three years we have delivered consistently sold-out concerts and workshops, with appearances including KOKO, Queen Elizabeth Hall (Southbank Centre), Union Chapel (EFG London Jazz Festival), Norwich Cathedral (Norfolk & Norwich Festival), and Rudolstadt Festival. We have secured support from Arts Council England (2x), PRSF (2x), the Hinrichsen Foundation, and other partners.

James Weeks (EXAUDI) described our work as “a total game-changer” - “not mere escapist nostalgia, but a living, exploratory art of real power”. For more quotes and press coverage: https://www.idrisiensemble.com/bio

Idrîsî Ensemble

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