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.
The ensemble has worked with some of the most distinguished 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, Viviane Hagner, Adrian Brendel, Jack Liebeck, Kyril Zlotnikov, 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 created the DSCH – Shostakovich Ensemble Composition Prize, intended to honour the work and career of leading Portuguese composers, including Luís Tinoco, Eurico Carrapatoso, Andreia Pinto-Correia, Sérgio Azevedo, and Carlos Azevedo.
The DSCH discography includes the first-ever recording of the complete chamber music for piano and strings by Dmitri Shostakovich, as well as the Trios Opus 11 and 38 by Ludwig van Beethoven (Paraty/Harmonia Mundi), albums acclaimed by both national and international specialized press.
In 2026, DSCH – Shostakovich Ensemble will release a new album featuring works by Antonín Dvořák and Franz Schubert, marking the 20th anniversary of the ensemble.
