ensemble mosaik was formed in 1997 on the initiative of young instrumentalists and composers in Berlin. Its interest lies in the diversity of aesthetic concepts and their manifestations in contemporary music. In order to do justice to individual works with respect to contemporary performance practice, the ensemble works in close cooperation with composers, with a clear emphasis on collaborations with young, emerging artists.

The widely acclaimed high level of artistry of ensemble mosaik is not just due to the outstanding talents of the individual musicians, but to their continuous collaboration. Most of the musicians involved have, in fact, been members since the founding of this ensemble, which is fully committed to musical research. New approaches are explored in many different areas which contribute to the further development of music: new performance techniques are investigated and electronic instruments are integrated within chamber music contexts; new concert forms are developed which also include improvisation and collaboration with artists from other fields. Over the years, ensemble mosaik has maintained continuous working relationships with many composers from Germany and abroad. In a departure from what is usually the case with composition commissions, composers are given the possibility of working together with the ensemble over a longer period of time to research new means of musical expression. In this way, all musicians are included in the creative process.

The ensemble has presented countless world premieres, including many compositions that were expressly written for the ensemble. In addition to composer portraits (Enno Poppe, Orm Finnendahl, Gösta Neuwirth, Rebecca Saunders, Sebastian Claren, Uros Rojko, Liza Lim), the ensemble has made a name for itself in particular with thematic concerts, including Musikszene Graz, audible interfaces, Mythen des Alltags, serien/studien/etüden and open_sources. In many of its concerts, ensemble mosaik makes use of electronic and visual media, as, for example, in the music theater productions Die Schachtel – a pantomime with music by Franco Evangelisti, Interzone (UA) – a video opera by Enno Poppe/Marcel Beyer/Anne Quirynen or Kommander Kobayashi and ScreamQueen in cooperation with novoflot.

The ensemble has appeared at many national and international festivals for contemporary music, including the 1st Kuala Lumpur Contemporary Music Festival in Malaysia, Warsaw Autumn, Wien Modern, Festival Nuova Consonanza in Rome and Transit in Leuven, as well as festivals in Barcelona, Madrid and L’viv. It has performed at musica viva in Munich, Musik der Jahrhunderte and the World New Music Festival 2006 in Stuttgart, Kunstfest Weimar, the Cologne MusikTriennale, the Donaueschingen Musiktagen, chiffren in Kiel, the pgnm Bremen, and the Musikbiennale, MaerzMusik, Festival UltraSchall and Klangwerkstatt in Berlin. In 2007, ensemble mosaik was Ensemble in Residence at the Schreyahn Autumn and in 2009 at chiffren kiel. In 2010/11 it will be the Ensemble in Residence at the State Theater in Cottbus.

The concerts of ensemble mosaik have been documented in numerous radio recordings and CDs have been released by Schott, col legno, Kairos, wergo and edition rz.

In 2010, ensemble mosaik has been invited to the following international festivals: Stockholm - DoubleDouble, Oslo - Ultima, Salzburg - Dialoge, Buenos Aires - Ciclo de conciertos de musica contemporánea, s’Hertogenbosch - Novembermusic, and the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival.