Formed in 2004, The Dmitri Ensemble is a performing group based around the central core of a string ensemble, committed to presenting both unjustly neglected and newly-penned works. Under their Principal Conductor, Graham Ross, the group has worked alongside contemporary composers and has given a number of world premières in such venues as Norwich Cathedral, St. John’s, Smith Square and St. Paul’s Cathedral. The Ensemble’s first recording for Naxos of works by James MacMillan was released in 2009 to great critical acclaim. The group takes its name from its debut performance in the Chapel of Trinity College, Cambridge, where the programme concluded with Rudolf Barshai’s arrangement of Dmitri Shostakovich’s Eighth String Quartet, the so-called Chamber Symphony.