Serious Ensemble Zagreb is an ensemble focused on world premieres, collective improvisation, and the fusion of music, visual art, and theatre. The group consists of young professional musicians and actors who are passionate about contemporary music. Founded in 2023 by Helena Skljarov, who also serves as its artistic director, the ensemble aims to experiment with the concept of concerts as social events through their performances.
A key idea of the ensemble is to present a contrast between the past and the present: the ensemble’s costumes reflect styles from the early 19th century (such as crinolines, hats, and cloaks), while the ensemble itself performs only contemporary music. This juxtaposition highlights the fact that, until the 19th century, concerts featured only the “contemporary” music of their time. Thus, the ensemble embodies a rebellion against the concert concepts that emerged in the 19th century, which are significantly shaped by the institutions and led to the proliferation of a fixed repertoire of historical music. This repertoire often serves merely to entertain audiences during their leisure time, contributing to the general decline of interest in contemporary music and its performance.

Prior to the 19th century, music was not meant solely to entertain; it was an integral part of social gatherings. The ensemble wishes to reach that concept and aims to dissolve this imaginary boundary between performers and the audience. The ensemble strives to bring contemporary music closer to a wider audience and integrate it into contemporary ways of life, merging the concert experience with everyday activities.

Since 2023, Serious Ensemble Zagreb is the resident ensemble of the Music-Mission-Vision festival. Since then, the ensemble has prepared a large-scale annual concert where there is no applause between pieces, creating a seamless narrative. Composers collaborate on the concert’s concept to ensure a fluid and cohesive experience. Preparing for this large-scale concert requires extensive planning similar to that of an opera, with a preparation period of an entire year. All aspects of theatrical production are employed for this concert, including lighting, costumes, texts, and, of course, compositions. Those concerts are called ”Total concerts”.
In the 2025 season, the ensemble will also initiate a concert series in collaboration with visual artists and actors. The idea is to present smaller-scale concerts more frequently within this series. While the concept remains the same, ensemble members will often form duos and trios, collaborating with an actor or painter.