Spark’s exceptional programs catch the zeitgeist with their rapid cuts and intuitive shuffling and sharing of different eras and genres. This opens up classical music to a younger audience. Ballet music by the young Mozart is juxtaposed with modern techno sounds, Handel motifs are sequenced, the final movement of a Vivaldi concerto is replaced by Dutch minimal music, Couperin is turned into a slow-motion ambient collage, Mendelssohn gets a face-lift in avant-garde folk-tinged tones, Bach enters into a thrilling dialogue with Berio and the Beatles. The Wiener Zeitung speaks of “refreshing soundscapes wrapped up in a concept that defies convention.” Yet, nothing is there for the sake of being there or added out of sheer striving for effect. These are craftspeople who work with precision and expertise, while adding that indispensable dash of joyful experimentation. This is classical music for the here and now, played by musicians who embody their own message. “These artists preserve all the complexity of the classics,” writes the Süddeutsche Zeitung, “they simply change the context and demonstrate their belief that pop music is just as much part of our cultural heritage as the classical tradition.” The French newspaper L’Alsace writes: “Five musicians are at work here who in essence are great performers and compelling artists. They have such total command of their instruments that they can carry the day in any music style you can name, without limiting themselves to any specific genre.” DIE WELT calls Spark a “top-notch band” and the Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant places Spark among the few ensembles “that have the potential to convincingly combine influences from pop and dance with classical music.” The American Record Guide sees Spark as “a genuine classical music phenomenon not unlike Yo-Yo Ma or the Kronos Quartet, but even more vital.”

Alongside clever arrangements of classical masterworks, Spark focuses on contemporary music, working with a string of internationally recognized composers. Such leading lights as Johannes Motschmann, Chiel Meijering, Kenji Bunch, Kamran Ince, Roger Wanamo, Jonne Valtonen, Lev Ljova Zhurbin and Sebastian Bartmann have created works specially tailored to Spark, written to do justice to the broad sound spectrum and consummate virtuosity of the group. Totally diverse in their concept of sound, these compositions are united by their essentially tonal disposition and the internalization of utterly different musical styles. The result is a fascinating sound world that remains accessible to a wide audience while at the same time reflecting a thoroughly modern look and feel. The band’s own compositions broaden the range of the ensemble and promote the status of its five musicians. They see themselves not as mere exponents of an already finished work but as artists who profile themselves on all levels as creative and inventive individuals. They represent a new sense of identity within a young generation of classical musicians who are redefining their approach to the classical tradition.