Helsingør Ensemble
[email protected]

A piano trio · est. 2019 Helsingør
Ensemble

Violin · Cello · Piano København

— About

Three musicians, formed at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in 2019, working at the meeting of contemporary classical and early music.

The Helsingør Ensemble began in a basement rehearsal room in Frederiksberg with a programme of Buxtehude trio sonatas transcribed for piano and Saariaho's Light and Matter. The pairing has become the trio's working method: late seventeenth-century counterpoint and twenty-first-century resonance treated as adjacent, not opposed.

Since their 2022 Vinterfest debut at Riddarsalen in Stockholm, they have appeared at Wigmore Hall, the Concertgebouw's Kleine Zaal, Pierre Boulez Saal, the Lucerne Festival, and the Oslo Chamber Music Festival. They record for ECM Records under Manfred Eicher's production direction since 2024.

Their first ECM recording, Stilla (January 2026), pairs Buxtehude's Sonata in D, BuxWV 267, with Pärt's Mozart-Adagio, Saariaho's Je sens un deuxième cœur, and a new commission from Norwegian composer Lars Petter Hagen.

Violinist holding instrument in profile, studio light
Violin

Ida Hilmarsson

Reykjavík, b. 1992. Studied with Christian Tetzlaff at the Berlin Hochschule für Musik. Plays a 1773 Tomasso Balestrieri.

Cellist's bow arm and cello body in low light
Cello

Sigurd Vinsnes

Bergen, b. 1990. Royal Danish Academy of Music, then ECM Studies in Salzburg. Solo recording Suites & Cantilenas, 2023.

Piano strings and hammers, monochrome detail
Piano

Pernille Bach Holm

Copenhagen, b. 1991. Curtis Institute, then Hochschule der Künste Bern. Editor of Buxtehude for Piano (Bärenreiter, 2024).

“Time, in their hands, is something measured rather than passed.”
Politiken  ·  Stilla, ECM 2826

— Repertoire

Two streams, treated as adjacent

Programmes are typically built across both streams. Programme notes and durations available to presenters on request.

Window streaked with rain, Nordic coastal light blurred behind
Helsingør · Februar 2026 · Photo, M. Eicher

— Contemporary

  • Saariaho Light and Matter 2014 · piano trio · 18'
  • Pärt Mozart-Adagio 1992 · violin, cello, piano · 7'
  • Andriessen La Voce 1981 · 12'
  • Sørensen Phantasmagoria 2007 · 21'
  • Hagen Stilla 2024 · commission · 14'
  • Ablinger Voices and Piano (selected) arranged for trio · 9'

— Early Music

  • Buxtehude Sonata in D, BuxWV 267 arr. piano trio · 11'
  • Schmelzer Sonata cucu arr. P. Bach Holm · 6'
  • Geminiani Concerto Grosso, Op. 2 No. 1 arr. piano trio · 13'
  • Bach, J.S. Trio Sonata BWV 525 org. arr. trio · 11'
  • Marini Sonata IV in echo arr. trio · 8'
  • Anonymous Drømte mig en drøm 14th c. Danish · arr. Bach Holm · 4'

— Concerts

2025–26 season

For festival programming, residencies, and re-engagement enquiries: [email protected]

  • 12 NOV 2025 CopenhagenDR Koncerthuset, Studio 2 Stilla — release programmeDR P2 Live Tickets →
  • 04 DEC 2025 LondonWigmore Hall Buxtehude · Saariaho · Pärt Tickets →
  • 18 JAN 2026 AmsterdamConcertgebouw, Kleine Zaal Stilla — release programme Tickets →
  • 07 FEB 2026 BerlinPierre Boulez Saal Hagen · Sørensen · Buxtehude Tickets →
  • 22 MAR 2026 StockholmKonserthuset, Grünewaldsalen Vinterfest residencyVinterfest 2026 Tickets →
  • 14–18 JUL 2026 HelsingørKronborg Slot, Riddersalen Helsingør Sommerakademi — five concerts & tutorialsFounding artists Festival pass →
  • 27 AUG 2026 LucerneKKL, Lukaskirche Lucerne FestivalFestival debut Tickets →
  • 22 AUG 2025 OsloSentralen Oslo Chamber Music Festival Past
  • 11 MAY 2025 BergenGrieghallen, Peer Gynt Festspillene i Bergen — opening concert Past
Subscribe via iCal → Download .ics [email protected]

— Recordings

Discography

  • 2026 Stilla Buxtehude · Pärt · Saariaho · Hagen. Recorded August 2025, Sendesaal Bremen. Producer: Manfred Eicher. Engineer: Stephan Schellmann. ECM 2826
  • 2024 Voices & Piano (after Ablinger) Selected pieces from Peter Ablinger's Voices and Piano, transcribed for trio. Recorded at Audion Studio, Aarhus. DACAPO 8.226241
  • 2022 Light and Matter Saariaho · Pärt · Sørensen. Debut recording. Vinterfest 2022 live recording. DACAPO 8.226221

— Contact

Three inboxes

Plain email, no forms. Usually answered within five working days from Frederiksberg.

General

Festival enquiries, masterclass requests, recording proposals.

Booking

Concert engagements, tour proposals, residencies. Routed to Imelda Drumm (London) or Sieghart (Berlin).

Press

Interviews, photography, programme notes. Press kit (PDF, 6 MB)