The award-winning Phantasm Viol Consort was founded in 1994 by Laurence Dreyfus and quickly established itself as one of the world’s leading viol consorts. Phantasm achieved international recognition with its debut CD featuring works by Henry Purcell. The recording received the 1997 Gramophone Award for Best Baroque Instrumental Recording. Further Gramophone Awards were awarded to recordings of viol consorts by Orlando Gibbons (2004) and John Dowland’s Lachrimae (2017), the latter also winning the Diapason d’Or de l’Année.
The ensemble is invited to festivals and concert series worldwide, having performed in Prague, Tokyo, Istanbul, Helsinki, and Washington DC, among others. Recent engagements include the Trigonale Festival (Austria), the Barcelona Early Music Festival, the Bergen International Festival, the Lufthansa Early Music Festival in London, Mazovia Baroque in Warsaw, the Stockholm Early Music Festival, the Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels, and De Bijloke Hall in Ghent.
Phantasm’s 25 recordings have been consistently praised. Its first recording for the Scottish label LINN was named Editor’s Choice by BBC Music Magazine and was a finalist for the 2010 Gramophone Early Music Award. The CD of the complete consort music of William Byrd received a Diapason d’Or and was named CD of the Month by BBC Music Magazine, as well as being a finalist for Best Early Music Recording at the 2011 Gramophone Awards. Lawes Consorts to the Organ was nominated for the BBC Music Magazine Chamber Music Award in September 2012. The recording of Lawes Royal Consort was not only selected as CD of the Week by various radio stations across Europe and the United States, but also ranked highly in the UK specialist classical charts for several months before winning the 2016 Chamber Music Prize from Limelight Magazine (Australia).
Between 2005 and 2010, Phantasm was based at the University of Oxford, where it was appointed Consort-in-Residence. In autumn 2010, a new partnership began as Consort-in-Residence at Magdalen College, where the ensemble performed with the acclaimed college choir and made joint recordings. Over several seasons, Phantasm was a regular guest at Wigmore Hall, appearing three times during the 2017/2018 and 2023/24 seasons.
In 2015, Phantasm moved its operational base to Berlin, where its musical director, Laurence Dreyfus, plans the ensemble’s activities while pursuing his own independent research and writing projects.
