Cardinal Complex was founded by the cellist Alex Jellici and the two keyboard players Matías Lanz and Thomas Jäggi in 2017. The young group’s main goal is to perform music of the 17th and 18th centuries in a historically informed way and at the highest level, sometimes with unusual instrumentation and in lively tempi. Cardinal Complex functions as a pool of musicians ranging from the small quartet constellation up to big orchestral line-ups. A main emphasis lies on the strong and colourful instrumentation of the basso continuo group.

The name consists of ‘Cardinal’ – The cardinal colour red, simbolizing the unrestrained musical passion shared among its members – and ‘complex’ in the sense of ‘complesso’ – Ensemble.

In its small formation as Cardinal Complex Quartet (Aliza Vicente, Luis Martínez, Alex Jellici and Matías Lanz) the group was awarded the 2nd prize at the 3. International Berlin Bach Competition in 2018.