After winning 2 nd prize and the Audience Award of the 63 rd ARD International Music Competition in Munich (1 st prize was declared void), Azahar Ensemble started an international career that has taken them to perform in many prestigious concert halls, such as Musikverein in Vienna, Philharmonie in Berlin, Prinzregententeather in Munich, Philharmonaie in Essen, Mozarteum in Salzburg, and festivals like Mozartfest in Würzburg, International Festival in Santander and Festpielhaus in Baden-Baden, among others.
Founded in 2010, Azahar Ensemble studied with the bassoon player Sergio Azzolini in Hochschule für Musik in Basilea (Switzerland) thanks to a
scholarship granted by BBVA Foundation and the Spanish National Youth Orchestra, of which they were members at the time. In 2011, the ensemble received an award in the ORPHEUS Swiss Chamber Music Competition and a year later they won 2 nd prize in the El Primer Palau music competition (Barcelona).
As part of their international career, Azahar Ensemble was invited by Ensemble
Pentaedre to visit Montréal (Canada) in 2016 to take part in the Les Journées
des Vents music festival. In 2018, the ensemble returned to Canada, this time
to the city of Calgary, as the resident quintet of the International Honens Piano
Competition. Azahar Ensemble has recorded for Bayerischer Rundfunk, SWR,
Deutschland Radio Kultur, Radio Clásica España, SRF2, France Musique and
Catalunya música.
Named after the white, aromatic orange blossoms that are typical of southern
Spain, Azahar Ensemble delights audiences with “great imagination and
technical precision” (Süddeutsche Zeitung) that makes the quintet’s
performances “bloom in sensual abundance” (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung).