Silenzio / De Profundis / Et Exspecto / In Erwartung

An evergreen passion for contemporary music and all things percussive - whether traditional or new, Western or non-Western - remains the defining characteristic of the group. Even so, Kroumata has in a very special way become something of an institution - not only in Sweden, but worldwide. The Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Inventionen Berlin, Wien Modern and the Hong Kong Arts Festival are only some of the festivals at which the ensemble has performed, and the prestigious orchestras and concert halls that they haven't visited are easily counted. (When the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra and Esa-Pekka Salonen were in need of a percussion group for the world première of Altar de Piedra by the Mexican composer Gabriella Ortiz, it was to Kroumata that they turned.)

A large number of works have been composed for Kroumata by Swedish and international composers such as Iannis Xenakis, Sofia Gubaidulina, Sven-David Sandström and Anders Eliasson. The ensemble has recorded many of these pieces for BIS in the course of a collaboration that started in 1983. With the first fruit of this partnership Kroumata and BIS created sound history: besides being the first CD released by BIS, this recording also showed the world and the rest of the recording industry just what could be achieved by digital means in terms of dynamic range.