French Avant Garde Musician Erik Satie

Ensemble Erik - Celebrating the French Avant-Garde Musician Erik Satie

Ensemble Erik takes its name from the iconoclastic French composer Erik Satie, a singular figure in the history of Western music known for his refreshingly unorthodox approach to composition. This French composer Erik Satie broke away from the grandiose Romantic traditions of his time, instead favoring simplicity, clarity, and a touch of the absurd—qualities that would later resonate deeply with the avant-garde. His music, often sparse and enigmatic, anticipated many of the aesthetic principles that came to define 20th-century experimentalism. Satie's influence loomed large over a generation of American composers, most notably John Cage, who admired his wit, eccentricity, and philosophical approach to sound and silence. In light of this legacy, it is particularly fitting that Ensemble Erik's inaugural performances should spotlight the work of Philip Glass—one of the most prominent figures in contemporary minimalism and a composer whose meditative structures and tonal innovations reflect a lineage traceable, in part, to Satie’s groundbreaking vision.

First Project - Glassworks and The Windcatcher

September '25 concerts in Hackney and Manchester

Every venture begins with a first step, and for Ensemble Erik, named in homage to the esteemed French composer Erik Satie, that step took the form of two luminous works by the iconic American composer Philip Glass. Our inaugural performances featured Glassworks—a gateway into Glass’s distinctive minimalist sound—and The Windcatcher, a work that breathes with quiet intensity and grace. Our journey as an ensemble launched on 23rd September 2025 at the atmospheric Hackney Church, London, followed two days later by performances at the acoustically rich Stoller Hall in Manchester. Philip Glass’s music, with its hypnotic repetitions and subtle evolutions, creates a soundscape which fosters reflection - a serene refuge amidst the noise of modern life.

We very much hope to reprise this programme in concerts next year (2026).

A group rehearses saxophones with a conductor in a cozy room.

Ensemble Erik

Ensemble Erik - Celebrating the French Avant-Garde Musician Erik Satie

First Project - Glassworks and The Windcatcher

September '25 concerts in Hackney and Manchester

Ensemble Musicians (for Glassworks/The Windcatcher)

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