The Improbable Ensemble
(Because it’s definitely not impossible)
The ‘Improbable Ensemble’ debuted in London in Fall 2015, stunning the
Music Learning Revolution conference with a performance that defied conventional wisdom. Likened to “Olympic fencers battling in the dark,” the group plays sophisticated, full multi-movement works from the conventional Classical repertoire while deprived of any visual contact with each other. Featured performers at the International Conference of Music Perception and Cognition at San Francisco in July 2016, and selected from an extremely competitive application pool to present at the International Society of Music Education Biennial Conference in Glasgow, the ensemble has attracted the attention of major media, the scientific community, music educators, professional musicians and business and leadership specialists as much for its musical excellence as the myriad of pedagogical, social, psychological and managerial implications of its performances.
Drawn from students of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte Orchestra program, the ensemble’s membership varies between 4 and 49 members, the number 49 holding special significance in the institution’s history. The ensemble’s coach is Dr. Jonathan Govias, a distinguished conductor and international authority on El Sistema and social action through music. The Improbable Ensemble exists to disrupt long-held beliefs about the centrality of conductors or the role of leaders, and to demonstrate the possibilities inherent in true collaboration.
The Improbable Ensemble in major media:
Jonathan Andrew Govias 