Effective period / Period of releases: 1991

Members: Nicholas Isherwood, Claire Merlet, Daniel Ciampolini, Pierre-Henri Xuereb, Jeanne Marie Conquer, Raphaël Chrétien, Philippe Berrod, Jean-Luc Menet, Frédéric Baldassare, Virginie Tarrête, Etienne Lamaison, Jean-Marie Cottet, Alexandra Greffin Klein, Noé Nillni

Ensemble Alternance is a chamber ensemble of soloists devoted to the performance of contemporary classical music. The ensemble was founded in 1983 by the flautist Jean-Luc Menet with intention of "developing, integrating and exploiting the chock of temporal passages as well as cultural and new instrumental rotations in the vast expanse of music of our time. And then to confront these with works from the distant and near past."

The ensemble is particularly well known for its performances of Pierre Boulez, John Cage, Roberto Carnevale, György Ligeti, George Crumb, Giacinto Scelsi, de Pablo, and Klaus Huber. Priority is given to premiering works by composers whom they consider to be true creators, such as the composers Philippe Hersant, Philippe Schoeller, Bruno Mantovani, Fabien Levy, Mark Andre and the like.