International Society for Contemporary Music

International Society for Contemporary Music
Name	International Society for Contemporary Music
Formation	1922
Founder	Edgard Varèse, Egon Wellesz, Béla Bartók, Arnold Schoenberg
Type	Music organization
Headquarters	Geneva
Location	International
Region served	Worldwide
Language	English, French, German
Leader title	President

International Society for Contemporary Music is an international network promoting new classical music, contemporary composition, and avant-garde performance through festivals, competitions, commissions, and publications. Founded by leading figures from Vienna, Paris, Budapest, and Prague, the society fostered connections among composers, performers, and institutions across Europe, North America, Asia, and Latin America. It has been associated with premieres, commissions, and advocacy involving major composers and ensembles from the early twentieth century to the present.

History and Founding

The society emerged in 1922 after meetings in Salzburg, Vienna, and Rome among composers including Edgard Varèse, Egon Wellesz, Béla Bartók, Arnold Schoenberg, Paul Hindemith, Igor Stravinsky, Dmitri Shostakovich, and Alban Berg who sought international platforms like Donaueschingen Festival, Gurrelieder performances, and Schoenberg Society events. Early support came from patrons and institutions such as Cercle Musical, Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde, International Music Council, and municipal programs in Barcelona and Prague. Between the two world wars the organization navigated political pressures involving figures like Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, and Joseph Stalin which affected composers including Krzysztof Penderecki, Olivier Messiaen, and Sergei Prokofiev. Post-1945 reconstruction linked the society to festivals in Edinburgh and exchanges with Juilliard School, Royal College of Music, Conservatoire de Paris, and cultural ministries in Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary.

Structure and Governance

Governance has involved elected presidents, secretaries, and advisory boards with prominent members drawn from institutions like BBC Symphony Orchestra, SWR, New York Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, and conservatoires including Royal Academy of Music and Curtis Institute of Music. Committees include artistic directors, selection juries, and representatives from national sections such as ISCM Austria, ISCM Germany, ISCM United Kingdom, and ISCM USA who liaise with ministries of culture and funding bodies like European Cultural Foundation and UNESCO. Leadership roles have been held by composers and administrators linked to Pierre Boulez, György Ligeti, John Cage, Karlheinz Stockhausen, and managers from Deutsche Grammophon, Universal Music Group, and Boosey & Hawkes.

World Music Days and Festivals

The society’s flagship series, World Music Days, rotated among host cities such as Venice, Prague, Helsinki, Sydney, Tokyo, Buenos Aires, Warsaw, and New York City. Programmes featured premieres by Benjamin Britten, Maurice Ravel, Anton Webern, Karl Amadeus Hartmann, Luciano Berio, Henri Dutilleux, Elliott Carter, Giacinto Scelsi, and Iannis Xenakis and showcased ensembles including Ensemble InterContemporain, Kammerensemble Neue Musik, London Sinfonietta, Asko Ensemble, and soloists like Mstislav Rostropovich, Itzhak Perlman, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, and András Schiff. Collaborations occurred with institutions such as Sydney Opera House, Lincoln Center, Salzburg Festival, Festival d'Automne, and Aichi Triennale.

Membership and National Sections

National sections developed in countries including Austria, Germany, United Kingdom, United States, Canada, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey, Israel, Japan, China, South Korea, India, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Colombia, South Africa, Egypt, Lebanon, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Portugal, Ireland, Iceland, Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Cyprus, Malta and others, often connected with local conservatoires, broadcasters, and cultural ministries such as NRK, DR, RNE, ORF, RTÉ, NHK, and CBC/Radio-Canada.

Commissions, Awards, and Competitions

The society organized commissions and awards including prizes judged by juries with members from Académie des Beaux-Arts, Royal Philharmonic Society, Grammy Awards committees, and competition panels like Gaudeamus Muziekweek, ISCM World Music Days Prize, Queen Elisabeth Competition juries, and foundations such as Ernst von Siemens Music Prize, Civitella Ranieri Foundation, Guggenheim Fellowship, DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program, Rockefeller Foundation, Koussevitzky Music Foundation, and Gerda Lissner Foundation which supported emerging composers including Giya Kancheli, Arvo Pärt, Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Michael Tippett, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Heitor Villa-Lobos, and Carlos Chávez.

Notable Works and Premieres

Premieres and performances at society events included landmark works such as Ionisation, Wozzeck, Le Marteau sans Maître, Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima, The Rite of Spring (Stravinsky), Pierrot Lunaire, Gruppen, Sinfonia (Berio), Different Trains, Symphony No. 3 (Shostakovich), La Mer (Debussy), Symphony of Psalms (Stravinsky), The Four Temperaments (Schoenberg), Die Soldaten (Zimmermann), and pieces by contemporary composers like George Benjamin, Thomas Adès, Anna Thorvaldsdottir, Kaija Saariaho, Nils Vigeland, Georg Friedrich Haas, Helmut Lachenmann, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Magnus Lindberg, Unsuk Chin, Tan Dun, Jo Kondo, Toru Takemitsu, Chen Yi, Fazıl Say, Gorecki, John Tavener, and Sofia Gubaidulina.

Influence and Legacy

The society influenced twentieth- and twenty-first-century musical networks, shaping careers linked to record labels such as Deutsche Grammophon, ECM Records, Nonesuch Records, ensembles like Britten Sinfonia, and academic programs at Royal College of Music, Juilliard School, Yale School of Music, University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, and Mannes School of Music. Its legacy is evident in cross-cultural projects with UNESCO, intercultural exchanges involving Asia-Europe Foundation, and ongoing impact on composers, performers, critics, and institutions including The New York Times, The Guardian, Gramophone (magazine), BBC Proms, and national arts councils such as Arts Council England and Canada Council for the Arts.

Category:Music organizations Category:Contemporary classical music organizations