The Monochrome Project

The Monochrome Project is an ensemble of 8 trumpets, founded by Marco Blaauw in 2015, to explore trumpet sounds and playing techniques through a wide variety of projects and the development of new compositions. The ensemble focuses solely on the sound of the trumpet, working with duplication, dense sound fields, subtle color changes, gradual and extreme dynamic curves, motion, shifting distances and perspectives. The single timbre becomes both the sonic foundation and accentuating highlight. The Monochrome Project proves that less can also be more.

Beginning 2015, the ensemble collaborated with La Monte Young and performed throughout Europe as the Theatre of Eternal Music Brass Ensemble.

In 2018, The Monochrome Project performed the European premiere of composition no. 103 by Anthony Braxton and received rave reviews from audiences at the Ruhrtriennale and the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival. During the Corona lockdowns of 2020 and 2021, the ensemble developed new repertoire and produced video and audio recordings for the West German Radio in Cologne, as well as a video for the Philharmonie Köln, with works by Elnaz Seyedi, Márton Illés, Martin Smolka and Justé Janulyté. In 2022, the BBC and Huddersfield Contemporary Music festival commissioned Pulitzer Prize winner Raven Chacon to write a 30 minute composition for 8 trumpets. In November 2022, the ensemble premiered Call for the Company, in the Morning in the UK, followed by the Italian premier at the Angelica Festival in Bologna.