"I know who I am as a musician. But who are we together, as an ensemble?" In this first episode, the 25-year-old violinist Alma meets Carolina Guiducci from Coloquio 6 and Alberto Jara from The Ministers of Pastime to explore how ensembles find their artistic identity.  They discuss balancing individual desires with a shared vision, communicating and inspiring one another, and why playing with people you like, and music you love, can be the foundation of a lasting ensemble. Maybe artistic identity isn’t a fixed definition, but an ongoing conversation?  Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

“How do I go from the vision to the concert?” The young musician Alma has figured out that her ensemble needs to find a shared artistic identity. But now comes the next challenge: how do you turn that vision into an actual concert programme? Faced with a wall of post-its and six musicians with very different ideas, Alma heads to a festival to find out how programmes are built.  In this episode, Carolina Guiducci from Coloquio 6 and Alberto Jara from The Ministers of Pastime share how they turn a piece, composer or idea into a complete concert experience. They explore narrative, musical contrast, emotional impact and the role of the audience, while asking an important question: what makes a concert more than just a playlist? Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

“How do I make sure people know we exist, and want to see and hear us?” The young musician Alma now faces another challenge: how do you actually get people to notice you and your ensemble? With no proper website, no recent concert video and a collection of Canva visuals made at 2 a.m., Alma quickly realises that being a great ensemble isn’t enough. In this episode, Alma meets Camille Chabanon, director of La Trinité in Lyon and former member of the team at Le Concert de l’Hostel Dieu, to find out what programmers and concert organisers actually look for.  Then Alma turns to EEEMERGING’s Community Manager Maïlys Mathieu to help her tackle another question: what is social media actually for? This helps Alma understand the importance of deciding why you want to be visible, who you want to reach, and how you want to be perceived. Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

“Things I wasn’t taught, and probably should have been.” Alma’s ensemble has a name, a programme, photos and a social media strategy. So why aren’t the programmers answering? In this episode, Alma explores how young ensembles build a network, create connections and get their first opportunities. Pablo Traine from Coloquio 6 shares his experience of building a network across countries and why generosity and collaboration can matter more than competition. When meeting Pierre Bornachot, Deputy Director of the CCR d’Ambronay, she finds out what programmers really expect from emerging ensembles, and how to know when you’re ready to approach them. Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

“How do I make sure my ensemble keeps developing?” The ensemble exists, the concerts are starting to happen, but Alma is wondering: what comes next? In this episode, Alma talks to Helena De Winter, coordinator of training for Sustainable-EEEMERGING, about the entrepreneurial side of being an ensemble: budgets, communication, networking and setting priorities without losing sight of your artistic identity. She also meets Marc de la Linde from The Ministers of Pastime, who shares what it is like to grow as an ensemble, navigate different ambitions and find a pace that works for everyone. In our next season… Alma and her ensemble have done a series of performances, gained experience, and things look different. The questions have changed too. She will explore what it takes to keep an ensemble going: structuring, making strategic decisions, managing relationships and creating the conditions for artistic work to continue and grow. Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.