Ensemble Modern is an international ensemble dedicated to performing and promoting the music of

contemporary Contemporary history, in English-language historiography, is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from about 1945 to the present. In the social sciences, contemporary history is also continuous with, and related t ...

composers. Formed in 1980, the group is based in

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

, Germany, and made up variously of about twenty members from numerous countries.

History

Ensemble Modern was founded in 1980 by members of the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie. From the beginning, the ensemble chose to organize itself democratically. There is no artistic director or chief conductor; instead, all projects, productions and financial matters are decided and supported by the musicians directly. Currently, the ensemble combines 19 soloists from different backgrounds: Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, India, Israel, Japan, Switzerland, and the United States. Since 1985, Ensemble Modern has been based in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. They offer a subscription series at the

Alte Oper Alte Oper (Old Opera) is a concert hall in Frankfurt am Main, Hesse, Germany. It is located in the inner city, Innenstadt, within the banking district Bankenviertel. Today's Alte Oper was built in 1880 as the city's opera house, which was destr ...

Frankfurt, host regular opera productions in cooperation with the

Oper Frankfurt The Oper Frankfurt (Frankfurt Opera) is a German opera company based in Frankfurt. Opera in Frankfurt am Main has a long tradition, with many world premieres such as Franz Schreker's ''Der ferne Klang'' in 1912, ''Fennimore and Gerda, Fennimore ...

. Since 1993, the Opera has held the "Happy New Ears" workshop series in which composers are invited to present and discuss their works. The programmatic scope of the ensemble includes music theatre, chamber music, orchestral music, as well as dance and video projects. Over the years, Ensemble Modern has had significant collaborations with many composers, including

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before Presidency of John Adams, his presidency, he was a leader of ...

, George Benjamin,

Hans Zender Johannes Wolfgang Zender (22 November 1936 – 22 October 2019) was a German conductor and composer. He was the chief conductor of several opera houses, and his compositions, many of them vocal music, have been performed at international festival ...

, Péter Eötvös,

Heiner Goebbels Heiner Goebbels (born 17 August 1952) is a German composer, Conductor (music), conductor and professor at University of Giessen, Justus-Liebig-University in Gießen and artistic director of the International Festival of the Arts Ruhrtriennale 201 ...

, Friedrich Goldmann,

Hans Werner Henze Hans Werner Henze (1 July 1926 – 27 October 2012) was a German composer. His large List of compositions by Hans Werner Henze, oeuvre is extremely varied in style, having been influenced by serialism, atonality, Igor Stravinsky, Stravinsky, Mu ...

Mauricio Kagel Mauricio Raúl Kagel (; 24 December 1931 – 18 September 2008) was an Argentine-German composer and academic teacher. Life and career Early life and education Mauricio Raúl Kagel was born on 24 December 1931 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, into an ...

Helmut Lachenmann Helmut Friedrich Lachenmann (; born 27 November 1935) is a German composer of contemporary classical music and pianist. Associated with the "instrumental musique concrète" style, Lachenmann is alongside Wolfgang Rihm as among the leading Germa ...

, György Kurtág,

György Ligeti György Sándor Ligeti (; ; 28 May 1923 – 12 June 2006) was a Hungarian-Austrian composer of contemporary classical music. He has been described as "one of the most important avant-garde music, avant-garde composers in the latter half of the ...

Steve Reich Stephen Michael Reich ( ; born October 3, 1936) is an American composer best known as a pioneer of minimal music in the mid to late 1960s. Reich's work is marked by its use of repetitive figures, slow harmonic rhythm, and canons. Reich descr ...

Ryuichi Sakamoto was a Music of Japan, Japanese musician, composer, keyboardist, record producer, singer and actor. He pursued a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the Synthesizer, synth-based band Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). With his ...

Karlheinz Stockhausen Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. He is known for his groun ...

, and

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American guitarist, composer, and bandleader. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestra ...

. Each year, Ensemble Modern gives approximately 100 concerts and an average of 70 new works, including about 20 premieres. The ensemble was declared a "Leuchtturm" or "Beacon" of contemporary culture in Germany by the German Federal Cultural Foundation in 2003. Various tours have taken the group to Africa, Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea, South America, Taiwan, Russia and the United States. It is regularly represented at major festivals, including inter alia, the Salzburg Festival, Klangspuren in

Schwaz Schwaz () is a city in the Austrian state of Tyrol. It is the administrative center of the Schwaz district. Schwaz is located in the lower Inn valley. Location Schwaz lies in the middle of the Lower Inn Valley at the foot of the Kellerjoch ...

, the Berliner Festspiele, the Lucerne Festival, the Festival d'Automne à Paris and the Festival Ars Musica in Brussels. In 2003, the International Ensemble Modern Academy (IEMA) was founded. The Academy, in conjunction with the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts (HfMDK), offers a one-year master's degree to composers, conductors, instrumentalists, and sound engineers. Additionally, IEMA provides scholarships, master classes, and various outreach programs.

Members

Members of the Ensemble Modern are: * Eva Böcker (cello) * Jaan Bossier (clarinet) * Paul Cannon (double bass) * Uwe Dierksen (trombone) * David Haller (percussion) * Christian Hommel (oboe) * Megumi Kasakawa (viola) * Michael M. Kasper (cello) * Hermann Kretzschmar (piano) * Jagdish Mistry (violin) * Thomas Adrian Mittler (horn) * Norbert Ommer (sound director) * Giorgos Panagiotidis (violin) * Rainer Römer (percussion) * Johannes Schwarz (bassoon) * Sava Stoianov (trumpet) * Dietmar Wiesner (flute) * Ueli Wiget (piano) Their current chief manager is Christian Fausch. Former members include Ingo Metzmacher (piano), Peter Rundel (violin) and Franck Ollu (horn), now prominent conductors.

Discography

Ensemble Modern is credited on over 170 recordings. Notable examples include: * 1989:

Anthony Braxton Anthony Braxton (born June 4, 1945) is an American experimental composer, educator, music theorist, improviser and multi-instrumentalist who is best known for playing saxophones, particularly the alto. Braxton grew up on the South Side of Chi ...

: '' 2 Compositions (Ensemble) 1989/1991'' (hatART CD 6086) * 1993: Frank Zappa: '' The Yellow Shark'' (Barking Pumpkin Records 21160572) * 1993: Mauricio Kagel: ''Exotica'' (MusiKado AUL 66099) * 1993:

Conlon Nancarrow Samuel Conlon Nancarrow (; October 27, 1912 – August 10, 1997) was an American-Mexican composer who lived and worked in Mexico for most of his life. Nancarrow is best remembered for his ''Studies for Player Piano'', being one of the first ...

: ''Studies'' (RCA/BMG 09026 61180 2) * 1995:

: ''Schuberts

Winterreise ''Winterreise'' (, ''Winter Journey'') is a song cycle for voice and piano by Franz Schubert (Schubert Thematic Catalogue, D. 911, published as Opus number, Op. 89 in 1828), a setting of 24 Poetry, poems by German poet Wilhelm Müller. It is the ...

'' (RCA/BMG 09026 68067 2) * 1996:

Mark-Anthony Turnage Mark-Anthony Turnage (born 10 June 1960) is an English composer of contemporary classical music. Life and career Mark-Anthony Turnage was born in Corringham, Essex on 10 June 1960. Turnage was the eldest of three children. His parents were lov ...

: ''Blood on the Floor'' (DVD) (Arthaus Musik 100 430) * 1997:

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and Extended technique, non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one ...

: ''The Piano Concerts'' (mode 57) * 1998:

: ''Music For 18 Musicians'' (RCM/BMG 09026 68672 2) * 1998:

Hanns Eisler Hanns Eisler (6 July 1898 – 6 September 1962) was a German-Austrian composer. He is best known for composing the national anthem of East Germany, for his long artistic association with Bertolt Brecht, and for the scores he wrote for films. The ...

: ''Roaring Eisler'' (RCA/BMG 74321 56882 2) * 1999:

Charles Ives Charles Edward Ives (; October 20, 1874May 19, 1954) was an American modernist composer, actuary and businessman. Ives was among the earliest renowned American composers to achieve recognition on a global scale. His music was largely ignored d ...

: ''Fourth Symphony'' (EM Medien EMCD-001) * 1999:

Kurt Weill Kurt Julian Weill (; ; March 2, 1900April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer active from the 1920s in his native country, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for hi ...

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...

: '' Die Dreigroschenoper'' (RCA/BMG 74321 6464 2) * 2000: George Benjamin: ''Sudden Time/Three Inventions/Viola, Viola'' (Nimbus Records NI 5732) * 2000:

Fred Frith Jeremy Webster "Fred" Frith (born 17 February 1949) is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer, and improviser. Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as a founding member of the English avant-rock group Henry ...

: Traffic Continues (Winter & Winter 910 044-2) * 2001:

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

: ''Sinfonie Nr. 5'' (BMC Records BMC CD 063) * 2001: Emmanuel Nunes: ''Quodlibet'' (Montaigne 782055) * 2002: Heiner Goebbels: ''Eislermaterial'' (ECM Records 1779 461 648-2) * 2002: Helmut Lachenmann: ''Schwankungen am Rand'' (ECM Records 1798 461949-2) * 2002: Steve Reich: ''City Life/New York Counterpoint/Eight Lines/Violin Phase'' (RCA/BMG 74321 66459 2) * 2003: Frank Zappa: '' Greggery Peccary & Other Persuasions'' (RCA Records 82876 56061 2 RCA Red Seal) * 2006:

Morton Feldman Morton Feldman (January 12, 1926 – September 3, 1987) was an American composer. A major figure in 20th-century classical music, Feldman was a pioneer of indeterminacy in music, a development associated with the experimental New York School o ...

: ''For Samuel Beckett'' (HatHutRecords hat owRT 142) * 2006: György Kurtág: ''Complete Choral Works'' (Hänssler Klassik CD 93.174) * 2007:

: ''NUN'' (EM Medien EMCD-004) * 2007: Helmut Lachenmann: ''Concertini/Kontrakadenz'' (EM Medien EMSACD-001) * 2007: Steve Reich: ''City Life'' (DVD) (WMG B000O17184) * 2008: Heiner Goebbels: ''Schwarz auf Weiß'' (DVD) (WERGO NZ71) * 2008: George Benjamin: ''Into the Little Hill'' (Nimbus Records NI5828) * 2009: Alva Noto +

: utp_ (DVD) (Raster Noton r-n096) * 2011: ''Ensemble Modern – Ernest Bour'' (EM Medien EMCD-017) * 2012: Péter Eötvös and Patricia Kopatchinskaja: ''Bartók / Eötvös / Ligeti'' (Naïve V 5285) * 2013: Hans Zender: ''33 Veränderungen über 33 Veränderungen'' (EM Medien EMCD-020) * 2019: Frederic D'Haene: ''Music with silent aitake's'' by Ensemble Modern and Reigakusha gagaku Ensemble (Parma Recordings) * 2020: ''Beschenkt: 40 Miniaturen zum Jubiläum'' (EM Medien EMCD-048/49)

Awards

Awards for the Ensemble Modern include: * 1985: Prize of the French foreign minister on the occasion of the European Year of Music * 1987: Prize of the Critics of "Verband der Komponisten und Musikwissenschaftler der DDR" for excellent interpretation during the Music Biennale in Berlin * 1987: The German Record Critics' Award, Quarterly Critics' Choice 4/1987:

Wolfgang Rihm Wolfgang Rihm (; 13 March 1952 – 27 July 2024) was a German composer of contemporary classical music and an academic teacher based in Karlsruhe. He was an influential post-war European composer, as "one of the most original and independent mus ...

– "umsungen", Peter Ruzicka – "...der die Gesänge zerschlug" (Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, baritone; Ernest Bour, conductor) * 1987: Schneider-Schott Music Prize Mainz * 1989: Berlin Prize of the Critics of the "Verband deutscher Kritiker" in the category of music, awards ceremony at the Academy of the Arts * 1992: " Hessischer Kulturpreis" 1992 from the state of Hesse in the category "cultural mediation" for the interpretation of modern music * 1993: The German Record Critics' Award, Quarterly Critics' Choice 4/1993: György Kurtág – ''Song Cycles'' (Ensemble Modern/Peter Eötvös) * 1993:

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

nomination. The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences nominates the CD "Ives: A Portrait of Charles Ives" of the Ensemble Modern and Ingo Metzmacher as the best orchestral recording * 1994: "Kunstpreis Berlin" – Jubiläumsstiftung 1848/1948 * 1994: Förderpreis Musik, awards ceremony at the Academy of the Arts in Berlin * 1995: Stern der Woche, ''Abendzeitung'', for the week 19–26 May 1995, Ensemble Modern under the direction of Peter Eötvös in the course of Dance 95 (Muffathalle, Munich) * 1996: 1st "Binding Culture Prize" * 1997: Grammy Nomination (National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences) for best small ensemble performance for: "John Adams: Chamber Symphony/Shaker Loops/Phrygian Gates" (Sian Edwards, conductor) * 1997: ECHO: German Record Award. Ensemble of the year with the recording "Fighting the waves" of George Antheil under the direction of

HK Gruber Heinz Karl "Nali" Gruber (born 3 January 1943), who styles himself HK Gruber professionally, is an Austrian composer, conductor, double bass player and singer. He is a leading figure of the so-called Third Viennese School. Career Gruber is said ...

* 1998: Prize of the Spanish theatre critics "best foreign production" 1998 for ›Black on White‹ by Heiner Goebbels * 2000: The German Record Critics' Award – Quarterly Critics' Choice 1/2000: ''Threepenny Opera'' by Kurt Weill conducted by HK Gruber * 2000: 3rd prize of ›Scala‹ magazine in the category ›crossover vocal work‹ * 2004: ECHO Klassik: German Record Award, in the category "best ensemble / orchestra" and "best recording of chamber music" for the CD ''Ensemble Modern plays Frank Zappa Greggery Peccary & Other Persuasions'' * 2006: Awarded "Artist of the Year" at Beijing Music Festival * 2007: Winner of the Landmarks in the Land of Ideas, Germany, 2007. * 2009: The Internationale Ensemble Modern Akademie receives the Praetorius Music Prize Lower Saxony in the category "music innovation" * 2009: The Siemens AG awarded the ›Kulturförderpreis 2009‹ for "into…", a project of Ensemble Modern and Siemens Arts Program in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut * 2014: Grammy nomination (National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences) for best classical instrumental solo for "Bartók, Eötvös & Ligeti" with Patricia Kopatchinskaja, violin; Peter Eötvös, conductor (Ensemble Modern & Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra) * 2021: Opus Klassik: German music prize. "Ensemble / Orchestra of the Year" for the double-CD ''Beschenkt: 40 Miniaturen zum Jubiläum''. * 2024:

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...

: Silver Lion for music

In film

* ''Leidenschaft Neue Musik. Über Vielfalt und Freiheiten im Ensemble Modern.'' (Passion for New Music. On Diversity and Freedom in Ensemble Modern.) Documentary, Germany, 2011, 27:40 Min., Direction: Joachim Meißner und Marion Morawek, Production:

Hessischer Rundfunk (; "Hesse Broadcasting"), shortened to HR (; stylized as hr), is the German state of Hesse's public broadcasting corporation. Headquartered in Frankfurt, it is a member of the national consortium of German public broadcasting corporations, A ...

, Series: ''wissen und mehr'', Premiere: 20 March 2012 on hr-Fernsehen
Contents
from ARD
online-Video
available until 10 March 2016. * ''Wenn die Bühne brennt ... Ein Porträt des Ensemble Modern.'' (When the Stage is on Fire... A Portrait of Ensemble Modern.) Documentary, Germany, 2011, 53:20 Min., Direction: Manfred Scheyko, Production: Hessischer Rundfunk,

arte Arte (, , ; ' ('), sometimes stylised in lowercase or uppercase in its logo) is a European Union, European public service Television channel, channel dedicated to culture. It is made up of three separate companies: the Strasbourg-based Europea ...

, Premiere: 5 December 2011 on arte
Contents
from Musik Heute.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Contemporary classical music ensembles German musical groups Musical groups established in 1980 Musical groups from Frankfurt