Off the beaten track...
"Ensemble PHOENIX: for the ones looking for baroque programs with originality and quality." Yedioth Aharonoth

PHOENIX is a broad, multi-faceted ensemble specialized in early music. Founded in Israel in 1998, the band employs different sets of period instruments to perform music written between 1200 and 1800 with the instrumental colors of each time and place. The ensemble began as a consort of viols, and soon grew to its present size, performing from small chamber concerts to big projects envolving some 60 musicians. The ensemble is currently a bi-national ensemble, working in Brazil and Israel with complementary teams. 

Myrna Herzog, its founder and director, is the dreamer of the ensemble's musical adventures. Her philosophy is to use early instruments to bring alive different cultures and times, and at the same time, build bridges between people, create beauty and harmony.

High standards and a commitment to quality and excellence are the trade-mark of PHOENIX. The ensemble started its activities on September 3, 1998, and its concert debut in May 1999 was already hailed as "a red-letter day for Israel’s musical life" (The Jerusalem Post). Since then, PHOENIX's work has been described as "masterful, remarkable, unconventional, fascinating, exciting, enchanting, refreshing, refined, exquisite, unique, superb, expressive, magical, imaginative, terrific, sensitive, outstanding, stunning, humorous, joyful, defying classification". See and hear a bit of it on Youtube.

PHOENIX's unconventional programming presents to the  public a repertoire off the beaten track, ranging from Medieval to Early Romantic music on period instruments. The ensemble was responsible for an impressive number of Israeli premieres, among them the staging of operas such as medieval The Play of Daniel, the baroque La Purpura de la Rosa, and the classical The Pirates, of the theatrical cantatas of Cristofaro Caresana, of the Mexican 17th century Misa Zapoteca and most recently of the extraordinary oratorios by Michelangelo Falvetti, Il Diluvio Universale andNabucco. Also in the theatrical vein, the ensemble presents Myrna Herzog's musical play Passion & Madness, featuring English 17h century music and texts, bridged by her own texts written in the same language and style. Most recently PHOENIX has been performing as a classical orchestra on period instruments, premiering Brazilian Composer Nunes Garcia’s Requiem from 1816 and the famous "Emperor's Credo" by Brazilian Emperor Pedro I - producing the first world recording of the piece on period instruments.

PHOENIX has been responsible in Israel for the first complete renditions on period instruments of important works such as Bachs' Art of Fugue and The Musical Offering, Rameau's Pièces de Clavecin en Concert, Leonora Duarte 7 sinfonas for 5 viols (now released as an album), Marin Marais's La Gamme and Mozart's flute quartets. Its repertoire includes also new music written for old instruments (David Loeb, Dina Smorgonskaya, Boris Yoffe, Shun Tokura, Luiz Otavio Braga and others) and new arrangements for old instruments.

In addition PHOENIX offers special projects such as Wind and Sea -  Brazilian 20th century music with viols (Villa-Lobos, Dorival Caymmi); O pray for the peace of Jerusalem and Convivencia, joining a mixed crew of Jews, Christians and Muslims in a fruitful exchange carried through the music; Follow the Cat, a program of music about those wonderful felines, written by five centuries of composers, from the Renaissance to modern times.

The ensemble has recorded many CDs for different labels, and 12 of its albums are now available on digital platforms: Spotify, Deezer, Apple Music & iTunes Store, Amazon Music, Tidal, YouTube Music and on our YouTube Channel. A new album, Bach in Italy, the live recording of the concerts celebrating 25 years of the ensemble, will be available on streaming just in time for Christmas/Hanukah, on December 20th. The ensemble has participated important music festivals such as the Israel Festival, the Abu Gosh Festival, The Bach Festival, in Israel and South America. It has performed as a soloist of the Sinfonietta Beersheva and performs often as a guest of the Jerusalem Baroque Orchestra. 

The ensemble is presently based in Rio de Janeiro, where it prepares first auditions of music from the Brazilian colonial period recently unearthed, in addition to its Renaissance, Baroque and Classical Repertoire.