Known for its extensive national and international touring, more than 20 albums and more than 100 videos, two times Juno Award winning Ensemble Caprice was founded by acclaimed conductor, composer and recorder soloist Matthias Maute and has become known for its innovative and adventuresome approach to baroque, classical and contemporary musical repertoire. In addition to its series of concerts in Montréal, the group tours extensively, in Canada, the United States, Central and South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa, including multiple tours to China. During the past two years, Ensemble Caprice has given over 100 concerts on 4 continents. The New York Times published a lengthy article hailing the musicians’ innovative and refreshing approach, praising them as “imaginative, even powerful; and the playing is top-flight”. The ensemble has been invited to perform in prestigious festivals, including the Lufthansa Festival in London, festivals in Bruges (Belgium) and Utrecht (Netherlands), the Felicja Blumental International Festival in Tel Aviv, and, in Germany, the Musikfestspiele Potsdam Sanssouci, the Regensburg Early Music Festival, the Festival Händel-Festspiele in Halle and the Stockstadt Festival. The ensemble’s recording activity is every bit as impressive, comprising over twenty CD’s on the ATMA Classique and Analekta labels. These recordings have gleaned many honours and much critical acclaim, including two Juno Awards and five prix Opus awards. In addition, Ensemble Caprice was nominated for the Echo Klassik Prize in Germany and received a glowing recommendation from the prestigious magazine Gramophone. Ensemble Caprice has also gained an international reputation for its videos on the Mécénat Musica noncerto classical music channel, distributed worldwide in more than 170 countries. In 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic, Ensemble Caprice cofounded the project Mini-Concerts Santé, providing 9,000 free door-to-door outdoor concerts to 70,000 children, adolescents, elderly, adults, and families suffering from isolation, loneliness and psychological distress, on more than 1,000 streets in more than 100 cities, boroughs and regions across Montréal, Québec and Canada.
