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| Ensemble Moderne | |
|---|---|
| Name | Ensemble Moderne |
| Background | classical_ensemble |
| Origin | Frankfurt am Main, Germany |
| Genres | Contemporary classical music, 20th century music, 21st century music |
| Years active | 1980–present |
| Associated acts | Frankfurt Radio Symphony, SWR Symphony Orchestra, Internationales Musikinstitut Darmstadt |
Ensemble Moderne Ensemble Moderne is a German contemporary music ensemble based in Frankfurt am Main, founded in 1980 to perform and promote new music by living composers. The group has been active in festivals such as the Donaueschingen Festival, the Wiener Festwochen, the Edinburgh Festival, and the Salzburg Festival, building relationships with institutions like the Hessischer Rundfunk, the Deutsche Oper Frankfurt, and the Philharmonie de Paris. Ensemble Moderne has premiered works by composers associated with IRCAM, the Bayerische Staatsoper, and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.
Ensemble Moderne was formed in Frankfurt am Main by a collective of musicians influenced by movements around Anton Webern, Arnold Schoenberg, and the postwar avant-garde linked to the Darmstadt School. Early seasons featured repertoire connected to the Internationales Musikinstitut Darmstadt, the WDR Experimentalstudio, and the Bayerische Akademie der Schönen Künste. The ensemble’s development paralleled institutions such as Hessischer Rundfunk, SWR, and the BBC Proms, and intersected with artistic figures from the Berlin Philharmonic, the London Sinfonietta, and the Ensemble InterContemporain. In the 1990s and 2000s the ensemble expanded ties with centers like IRCAM, the Royal Academy of Music, the New York Philharmonic, and the Juilliard School.
The ensemble’s repertoire spans works by composers including Karlheinz Stockhausen, Pierre Boulez, György Ligeti, John Cage, Morton Feldman, Helmut Lachenmann, Luciano Berio, Iannis Xenakis, Elliott Carter, Brian Ferneyhough, Kaija Saariaho, Olga Neuwirth, Salvatore Sciarrino, Louis Andriessen, Harrison Birtwistle, Toru Takemitsu, Georg Friedrich Haas, Thomas Adès, Jennifer Walshe, Rebecca Saunders, Beat Furrer, Liza Lim, John Adams, Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Arvo Pärt, André Jolivet, György Kurtág, Alexander Goehr, Helmut Schmidt and others tied to the contemporary repertoire. Programs have included thematic cycles inspired by the Second Viennese School, the New Complexity, and electroacoustic works from the WDR Electronic Music Studio, the Bergen Electronic Music Conservatory, and Manca Festival artists. The group has presented staged projects in collaboration with houses such as the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Hamburg State Opera, and the La Monnaie.
Principal members and artistic leaders have included musicians affiliated with the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden, the Frankfurt Opera, the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Munich Philharmonic, and conservatories like the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Frankfurt am Main and the Royal Conservatory of The Hague. Artistic directors and conductors associated with the ensemble have collaborated with figures from the Vienna Philharmonic, the Münchner Rundfunkorchester, the Cleveland Orchestra, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Guest conductors and collaborators have included artists linked to the Gidon Kremer, the Daniel Barenboim milieu, the Pierre Boulez Ensemble, and the Simon Rattle circle.
Ensemble Moderne has commissioned and premiered pieces from composers connected to the Guggenheim Fellowship, the Berliner Festspiele, the Kronberg Academy, and academies such as Tanglewood Music Center and the Aspen Music Festival and School. Notable collaborations include projects with Arvo Pärt Centre, IRCAM, the Zentrum für Kunst und Medien, Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics, and ensembles like the Ensemble InterContemporain, the London Sinfonietta, the Kronos Quartet, the Guarneri Quartet, Sixtus Quartet, and electronics teams from the NHK Symphony Orchestra’s research units. Commissioned composers have included recipients of the Pulitzer Prize for Music, the Grawemeyer Award, the Leone d'Oro, and the Praemium Imperiale.
Recordings have been issued on labels associated with the Deutsche Grammophon, Kairos, ECM Records, Harmonia Mundi, Wergo, and Albany Records. Live recordings and broadcasts have been carried by Hessischer Rundfunk, SWR, BBC Radio 3, France Musique, ORF, Rai Radio 3, and the NPR network. The ensemble’s discography includes premieres and definitive recordings of works linked to the Donaueschingen Festival, the Wien Modern, the Aix-en-Provence Festival, and the Bregenzer Festspiele. Media collaborations extend to film festivals such as the Berlinale, contemporary art venues like the Centre Pompidou, and academic publications from the Oxford University Press and the Cambridge University Press.
The ensemble and its members have received prizes connected to institutions such as the German Record Critics' Award, the ECHO Klassik, the Diapason d'Or, the Gramophone Award, and honors from the Frankfurt Kunstpreis, the Hertzog Prize, and municipal awards from Hesse and the City of Frankfurt. Composer collaborators have been recognized by the Guggenheim Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, and national awards including the Prix de Rome and the Orden Pour le Mérite für Wissenschaften und Künste. Festival appearances have led to invitations from the BBC Proms and the Lucerne Festival, reinforcing the ensemble’s profile in international contemporary music circuits.
The ensemble’s educational work includes workshops and masterclasses at institutions like the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln, the Royal College of Music, the Conservatoire de Paris, the New England Conservatory, and the Curtis Institute of Music. Outreach projects have been undertaken with cultural partners such as the Goethe-Institut, the European Cultural Foundation, the Council of Europe cultural programs, and youth initiatives linked to the El Sistema movement and to schools in collaboration with the Frankfurt City Council. Residency programs have connected the group with research centers at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz, the University of California, Berkeley, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Category:Contemporary classical ensembles Category:German musical groups