Ensemble Échappée
Ensemble Échappée is a flexible chamber ensemble with a string quartet at its core and a taste for exploring the edges of the repertoire.
Read the full biographyNext on stage
Palais des Beaux-Arts Charleroi
Sweet Dissonance
About
Jenna Sherry, Violin & Artistic DirectorSophia Prodanova, ViolinElisabeth Smalt, ViolaLucile Perrin, CelloBeatrice Scaldini, ViolinOscar Holch, ViolaAnne-Sophie van Riel, ViolaOctavie Dostaler-Lalonde, CelloMátyás Virág, CelloPrach Boondiskulchok, PianoValentin Gerlier, Philosopher
échappée • [eʃape] n. fem.
1. (music) a melodic ornament that moves in the opposite direction from the main line
2. a breakaway, as in a runner from the pack
3. a view that draws the eye outward
4. a flash of fantasy or genius
Ensemble Échappée is a flexible chamber ensemble with a string quartet at its core and a taste for exploring the edges of the repertoire. Échappée brings together a group of musicians whose virtuosity is embodied in their ability to move between historical and contemporary modes of expression. Our programmes connect old and new, linking our musical past and lived present while revealing new ways of listening.
Ensemble Échappée is the initiative of violinist and Artistic Director Jenna Sherry, previously founder and Artistic Director of Birdfoot Festival, where she developed her fascination with the subtle but powerful ways that perception, awareness, context, and juxtaposition shape how we listen, and therefore understand music. Ensemble Échappée takes these questions further, exploring new ways of hearing and understanding old music and the many layers of music-making that exist beyond written notation. Musical text becomes a departure point for seeking the intangible elements of music, while music of the past inspires new ways of understanding what it means to be human today.
Ensemble Échappée was Ensemble in Residence during the inaugural Constellation Symposium: Music and the Land (October 2025) where it was mentored by John Eliot Gardiner. In 2027 the Ensemble will release its Sweet Dissonance programme with Cobra Records.
Jenna SherryViolin & Artistic Director
Violinist and Artistic Director of Ensemble Échappée, and previously founder and Artistic Director of Birdfoot Festival, where she developed her fascination with the subtle but powerful ways that perception, awareness, context, and juxtaposition shape how we listen, and therefore understand music.
A New Orleans native, her search for the historical recordings that might have inspired Ravel’s “Blues” movement became the Behind the Blues programme. She plays in Sweet Dissonance and directs Undertones. www.jennasherry.com
Sophia ProdanovaViolin
Plays violin in the Sweet Dissonance programme.
Elisabeth SmaltViola
Plays viola in the Sweet Dissonance programme.
Lucile PerrinCello
Plays cello in the Sweet Dissonance programme.
Beatrice ScaldiniViolin
Plays violin in the Undertones programme.
Oscar HolchViola
Plays viola in the Undertones programme.
Anne-Sophie van RielViola
Plays viola in the Undertones programme.
Octavie Dostaler-LalondeCello
Plays cello in the Undertones programme.
Mátyás VirágCello
Plays cello in the Undertones programme.
Prach BoondiskulchokPiano
Pianist and composer, collaborator on Behind the Blues, where the gaps in the historical record are filled with fantasy, imagination and improvisation.
Valentin GerlierPhilosopher
Philosopher, part of the Undertones programme.
Schedule
2026
Palais des Beaux-Arts Charleroi
Sweet Dissonance
Past seasons
2026
14 Jun Conway Hall, London, UK
11 Jun Lancaster Arts, Lancaster, UK
2025
23–26 Oct The Constellation Symposium: Music and the Land, Springhead, Fontmell Magna, UK
19 Jan Muziekkamer Oegstgeest, De Paulus, Oegstgeest, NL
18 Jan Keizerspoort, Amsterdam, NL