Background

In 1985 Gordon Dixon found a neglected piece of music tucked away in the back of a cupboard and thought it worth playing. It turned out to be music by the then little known Newcastle composer of the 18th century - Charles Avison. Up until that time Avison's music was hardly ever heard either in Tyneside or further afield. He had somehow become lost in the wake of more celebrated contemporaries such as Handel and Haydn.

The decision to form an Ensemble was made in 1985 and the first public concert took place at the Brighton International Festival in May, where the Ensemble was acclaimed.

The Avison Ensemble has, since 1994, performed on period instruments, successfully creating and producing classical music concerts and organising education and outreach projects for the past 21 years - concerts and projects, which have reached over 200,000 adults and young people, in Newcastle and the Northeast.

In 2001/02 The Ensemble acquired 2 of the original Avison workbooks containing some music, which was written in his own hand and containing some newly discovered work. The workbooks were purchased at public auction using a Heritage Lottery grant, levered by pledges from Avison Ensemble supporters. Both workbooks have now been gifted to the City of Newcastle, on permanent loan in the City Library.

The Ensemble comprises some of Europe's leading baroque musicians from Europe, including artists from The Hague, Germany, France, Austria and London, with international soloists from all over the globe. Pavlo Beznosiuk leads the Ensemble; Pavlo is the UK's foremost baroque violin virtuoso and also leads the Academy of Ancient Music. He has dedicated his time to developing the Ensemble and widening the repertoire and recording programmes.

Most recently the Ensemble has embarked upon its most ambitious project yet, to record the complete extant works of Charles Avison by his ter-centenary year in 2009. Already the Ensemble boasts three exceptional recordings with more ready to release. The Opus 6 double CD was in the top 20 of HMV's most popular recordings in the summer of 2003. Launched to an avalanche of responses from all over the world, Charles Avison at last had made it into the public consciousness! The advent of the Internet spread the word and the sound further and now Avison is regularly played as far afield as Siberia (where it is the most popular music on Radio Penguin!) and in Australia it remains in the top 10 on Classic FM. You can purchase CDs by The Avison Ensemble in the shop.

Friends and members of the Avison supporters groups are spread worldwide and travel literally thousands of miles to attend concerts in Newcastle and the Northeast from as far afield as Australia and California.

Future plans include UK and European tours, closer links and tours in the US, all recordings completed by 2009.

Main achievements in short:

• A local group made up of national and international artists of the highest quality in performance
• The Avison Ensemble move to period instruments becoming the first professional period performance orchestra in the Northeast of England.
• Discovery and performance of newly discovered works from the original 2 Avison Workbooks
• Workbooks gifted to the City of Newcastle on permanent loan
• Radio 3 Live from the 18th Century - worldwide broadcasts of Avison's music on the BBC
• 3 CD's on sale, with more due to be released in the 2006/2007 season and plenty more "in the pipeline" (see our shop page for info on how you can purchase our CDs)
• Preparations for recording the extant works of Charles Avison by his ter-centenary in 2009