Pentaèdre

Pentaèdre is a Canadian chamber ensemble, named after a pentahedron or a five-sided geometric shape. Formed in 1985, the ensemble employs the standard instrumentation of a woodwind quintet (flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and horn), though each player doubles on related instruments, and together they create a more varied sound than that expected of a small chamber group. While much of Pentaèdre's repertoire is standard classical music, experimental works have shown the ensemble's versatility and interest in performing across disciplines with singers, dancers, actors, and mimes. Their performances have included a chamber version of Schubert’s song cycle Die Winterreise with tenor Christoph Prégardien, a staged presentation of John Metcalf’s opera A Chair in Love, and L’amour est un opéra muet with the mime troupe Omnibus. The ensemble has also performed with vocalists Rufus Muller, Russell Braun, Phillip Addis, and Karina Gauvin, and pianists Naida Cole, David Jalbert, and Iwan Llewelyn-Jones. Pentaèdre has also recorded quintet arrangements of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring and Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition on the ATMA Classique label. Pentaèdre are artists in residence at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal.