This is AREPO
AREPO [AH-reh-poh] is a contemporary music quartet composed of cellist and vocalist Elizabeth Kate, clarinetist Madara Eleonora Mežale, guitarist Marco Slaviero, and accordionist Noël Rubli. Formed in 2022 in Oslo, AREPO is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of chamber music by embracing unconventional instrumentation, integrating voice and movement, and championing composers from marginalized communities redefining what 21st-century ensemble performance can be. Though spanning the USA, Italy, Switzerland, and Latvia, AREPO now finds its home between Oslo and New York City. Their name derives from the Sator Square, an ancient Latin palindrome, where AREPO exists as a rare and enigmatic word. This reflects the ensemble’s ethos—embracing the unknown, forging new musical identities, and engaging with infinite possibilities in sound.
In March 2025, under the label Another Timbre, AREPO released its first album Listening Time in collaboration with composer Ferdinand Schwarz. It has been selected as one of TOP 10 best contemporary classical albums on Bandcamp from March 2025.
Check it out here!
In 2024, AREPO was selected as an Ensemble-in-Residence for the Eighth Blackbird Creative Lab, where they developed new works at the Yerkes Observatory in Wisconsin. Their performances have been featured in renowned festivals and concert series, including the Ultima Contemporary Music Festival in Oslo, the Raum236 Concert Series in Zürich, and the annual Chamber Music Festivals at the Norwegian Academy of Music, but in November 2025 for the first time they will appear in Chicago at the Eyrie Festival organised by the Eighth Blackbird. Their commitment to commissioning and premiering new music has led to collaborations with composers such as Ferdinand Schwarz, Elias Frisk, Harriet Steinke, and Arjan Singh Dogra, and future collabroations with Ashkan Behzadi, Reiko Füting and Tine Surel Lange.