Founded in 2006, the DSCH – Shostakovich Ensemble is regarded as one of the leading musical groups on the current international scene.
Based in Lisbon, the ensemble was created by its artistic director Filipe Pinto-Ribeiro as a flexible, variable-geometry group and a platform for collaboration among outstanding musicians.
Its name pays tribute to Dmitri Shostakovich, commemorating the centenary of the composer’s birth in the year of the ensemble’s foundation. Since its debut, DSCH has performed at prestigious concert seasons and festivals across Europe, the United States, and Australia.
The ensemble’s broad repertoire spans works from a wide range of periods and styles — from Beethoven to Schumann, Mozart to Messiaen, Haydn to Webern, Brahms to Ravel, and Shostakovich to Sofia Gubaidulina — the latter with whom the ensemble has developed a close artistic relationship.
DSCH has collaborated with many of the most renowned musicians of our time, including José van Dam, Pascal Moraguès, Esther Hoppe, Christian Poltéra, Lars Anders Tomter, Gary Hoffman, Gérard Caussé, Corey Cerovsek, Renaud Capuçon, Tedi Papavrami, Adrian Brendel, Jack Liebeck, Kyril Zlotnikov, and Liza Ferschtman, among many others.
Since 2006, some of the Shostakovich Ensemble’s concerts have been recorded and broadcast by RTP Antena 2 and the French television channel Mezzo.
In 2018, the ensemble established the DSCH – Schostakovich Ensemble Composition Prize, an award recognizing the work and careers of leading Portuguese composers. Laureates include Luís Tinoco (2019), Eurico Carrapatoso (2021), Andreia Pinto-Correia (2023), and Sérgio Azevedo (2024).
The ensemble’s discography includes the world premiere recording of Shostakovich’s Complete Chamber Music for Piano and Strings and Beethoven’s Trios Op. 11 and 38, released by Paraty/Harmonia Mundi, which received critical acclaim in both Portuguese and international music press. In 2025, the DSCH – Schostakovich Ensemble will release a new album featuring works by Antonín Dvořák and Franz Schubert.
