Making music in ensemble – at a high level and in a relaxed atmosphere: that was the reason why musician friends and colleagues in the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra got together for the first time in 1999 at the “Landsberger Sommermusiken”. At the end of the first demonstration of this small but refined festival of chamber music, the desire for further concerts in this style - and with this same group of musicians - at other times of the year, was expressed. The ‘Ensemble Berlin’ was born. Soon afterwards the Bavarian Broadcasting Company transmitted a live recording and, because of numerous concert appearances, a growing public audience became aware of the 11 members group – all over Germany and abroad. In 2006 the ensemble introduced itself in the Berlin Philharmonic to the friends of chamber music in the capital city. In the meantime several CDs document the vibrating and highly co-ordinated style of playing of this ‘Ensemble Berlin’ – as also its growing repertoire. There are no restrictions in its programme. Together with original compositions for classical chamber music in traditional casting for quintet, octet, and nonet from classical, romantic and modern music – further musical adaptations also form an additional point of emphasis in this artistic work. To date, a whole series of musical jewels has resulted from the exceptionally fertile collaboration of the Berlin Orchesters’ musicians with the arranger Wolfgang Renz; e.g Franz Schubert’s Wanderer-Fantasy in a version for nonet. These arrangements which have been expressly set down for the ‘Ensemble’, offer both listeners and interpretive performers hitherto unknown varieties in sound and, - over and above this, open up completely new aspects of current interpretations of repertoire. The inspirational sources of all the activities of the ensemble are, and always have been, the “Landsberger Sommermusiken”. Here the group opens itself its own new repertoire in a naturally relaxed manner – the amount of pure enjoyment contained in this expression becomes audible in the concert hall. It is not at all seldom that this effect continues to be felt long afterwards on long evenings at the camp fire with the hosts and hostesses. This in the good tradition of the Landsberg Domincan Sisters (Landsberger Dominikanerinnen), which have firmly locked their visit to Berlin in their hearts. The Ensemble Berlin has recorded several CDs. Among them the transcriptions of two of the most important works of the music history: a version for nonet from Schubert’s “Wandererphantasie” and a version for wind quintet of Verdi’s string quartet (warmly welcomed by critics); a CD dedicated to Pasculli’s music and published for EMI (Editor Choice for Gramophone Magazine) and recently the transcriptions of two masterpieces, Musorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition and Le Tombeau de Couperin by Ravel (record of the week for the RBB Kultur).