Inscape

The ensemble Inscape, sometimes stylized as INSCAPE or called the Inscape Chamber Orchestra, has championed contemporary music. Flexible in formation, the group seeks to expand both the repertory of classical music and the concert experience associated with it, presenting concerts that are diverse both chronologically and in medium.

Inscape was established in 2004 by Richard Scerbo, who continues to serve as its artistic director and often as the conductor in larger works. Clarinetist Evan Ross Solomon is the group's executive director. Many of the first members were associated with the University of Maryland School of Music, and some had performed together in a group there called the Philharmonia Ensemble. Inscape members are professionals from the Washington, D.C. area who have performed in the National Symphony Orchestra, the <a href="spotify:artist:6tdexW8bZTG8NgOFUCYQn1">Philadelphia Orchestra</a>, the <a href="spotify:artist:1w77QW6t2p7zrCEbgwk256">Baltimore Symphony</a>, and other groups along the mid-Atlantic coast; many of the ensemble's earlier members have gone on to professional careers around the U.S.

Inscape comprises about 15 members, but any given concert features pieces of various sizes, as small as a duo or trio. The group is ensemble-in-residence at the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer in Bethesda, Maryland. It also performs at several Washington-area venues of national significance, including the National Gallery of Art, music center of Strathmore in North Bethesda, and on occasion, the Kennedy Center. Inscape performs about a dozen concerts annually, with each one combining traditional repertory with new music of various kinds. The group has commissioned and given the premieres of more than 20 new works of various kinds, with high-energy performances noted for strong audience engagement even in unfamiliar music. Inscape has made several recordings for the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Dorian+Sono+Luminus%22">Dorian Sono Luminus</a> label, including one of <a href="spotify:artist:3u1fWmwpwPOmMelTAo0Gb8">Hindemith</a>'s rarely heard ballet Hérodiade in 2014. In 2019, the group was heard as the orchestra in a new recording of <a href="spotify:artist:69lxxQvsfAIoQbB20bEPFC">Philip Glass</a>' chamber opera The Fall of the House of Usher, on the composer's <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Orange+Mountain+Music%22">Orange Mountain Music</a> label.