Psappha New Music Ensemble is an ensemble of contemporary classical musicians based in the North West of England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, specialised in the performance of works by living composers. Founded in 1991, Psappha takes its name from the composition of the same name (Psappha) by Greek modernist composer Iannis Xenakis

Iannis Xenakis

Iannis Xenakis was a Romanian-born Greek ethnic, naturalized French composer, music theorist, and architect-engineer. He is commonly recognized as one of the most important post-war avant-garde composers...

. The ensemble has a core instrumentation of flute, clarinet, piano, percussion, violin, viola and cello and have released seven CDs of music by British composers, including John Casken

John Casken

John Casken is an English composer, born in Barnsley, Yorkshire, England.Casken read music at the University of Birmingham, studying composition and contemporary music with John Joubert and Peter Dickinson. He then went on to study in Poland with Andrzej Dobrowolski on a Polish government...

, Piers Hellawell and Gordon McPherson

Gordon McPherson

Gordon McPherson is a Scottish composer. He studied at the University of York, England, returning there for his doctorate, continuing with post-doctoral research at the Royal Northern College of Music....

. Their Patron is Master of the Queen's Music

Master of the Queen's Music

Master of the Queen's Music is a post in the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. The holder of the post originally served the monarch of England.The post is roughly comparable to that of Poet Laureate...

, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, several of whose works they have commissioned, premiered and recorded, notably a CD of Eight Songs for a Mad King

Eight Songs for a Mad King

Eight Songs for a Mad King is a monodrama by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies with a libretto by Randolph Stow, based on words of George III. The work was written for the South-African actor Roy Hart and the composer's ensemble the Pierrot Players, and premiered on 22 April 1969...

and Miss Donnithorne's Maggot described in the Guardian

The Guardian

The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...

as possessing "wonderful clarity and dramatic immediacy".