Founded in 1996 by Artistic/Executive Director Jordan Sramek, The Rose Ensemble is dedicated to uniting virtuosic vocal artistry with scholarly research to create musical performances and educational programs that connect audiences to compelling stories of human history, culture, and spirituality from around the world. Now in its twentieth season, The Rose Ensemble has achieved an international reputation as a premiere American early-music ensemble and innovator in the field. The musicians of The Rose Ensemble have received praise for their “lushly layered sound” (Pioneer Press), and the excellence of their “articulation, tone, and balance” (The Capital Times). Writes Tim Grillo (The Cornell Daily): “They made it seem as if this ancient, supple, undying music was being spontaneously created in real time before our eyes and ears.” Each year The Rose Ensemble presents in the Twin Cities a subscription season of diverse concerts that are grounded in original research.

The Rose Ensemble regularly partners with regional arts groups and institutions such as The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, The Walker Center, and the Minnesota History Center to create programs that have garnered critical acclaim. In 2014, The Rose made their debut appearance with the Minnesota Orchestra, an event described as ‘history in the making’ by William Beard (The Star Tribune). Since 1997, The Rose Ensemble has also held the position of Artist in Residence at St. Mary’s Basilica in Minneapolis. In addition to its work in Minnesota, The Rose Ensemble maintains an active touring schedule. This season marks the Ensemble’s 10th annual tour of Greater Minnesota.

In 2014, the Ensemble was honored to represent the U.S., by invitation of the State Department, at the 2014 biennial International Festival of American Renaissance and Baroque Music, Misiones De Chiquitos, in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Dedicated to increasing access to the arts, The Rose Ensemble presents educational outreach programs in libraries, K-12 schools, universities, adult residential facilities, and community centers. The Rose Ensemble possesses more than 15 years’ experience developing and leading culture and music programs, residencies, lecture/demonstrations, master classes, and educational forums in these diverse contexts. Since 2009, the group has also produced an annual holiday radio broadcast. This program is carried by over 300 stations in the U.S. and also by the European Broadcasting Union, reaching hundreds of thousands of people around the world each year. The Rose Ensemble is a recipient of the Chorus America Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence and first place in both the sacred and secular music categories at the Tolosa Choral Contest in Spain (part of the European Choral Grand Prix). In 2014, The Rose Ensemble released its 10th CD, A Toast to Prohibition. Their recordings have been called “impassioned and brightly alive” (Choral Journal) and “engaging...satisfying” (Gramophone).