Moscow Contemporary Music Ensemble (Moscow Ensemble). Moscow Contemporary Music Ensemble (MCME) was founded in 1990 by Yuri Kasparov, under the patronage of the famous Russian composer Edison Denisov. The ensemble focuses on promoting 20th and 21st century music. It is Russia’s foremost contemporary chamber ensemble and consists of some of the best Russian musicians specializing in modern music. MCME has strong educational goals and works closely with both Russian and international cultural foundations to bring contemporary music to a wide range of audiences. As part of this goal, MCME has organized the International Young Composers Academy (Tchaikovsky City, Ural) to bring together both young composers and internationally recognized composers in workshops. The ensemble’s repertoire is quite extensive and has included the premiere of almost 800 different works. Particularly, they champion the music of Russian composers of the 1920’s and ‘30’s, such as Nikolai Roslavets and Alexander Mosolov. Additionally, they regularly perform music by “Shestidesyatniki” (1960’s Russian) composers. MCME regularly performs in many diverse locales across Russia (80 cities) and elsewhere in the world, including Armenia, Austria, Belorussia, Czech Republic, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and USA. MCME performed on the best concert stages, took part in the biggest international festivals such as “Moscow Biennale for Contemporary Art”, “DiaghilevFest” (Russia, Perm), “Radio-France presences” (Paris), “FrankfurtFest”, “Maerzmusik” (Germany), “Gaudeamus music week”, “The Night of the Unexpected” (the Netherlands), “Warsaw Autumn” (Poland), “Klangspuren” (Austria) and other. MCME has recorded more than 40 CDs for leading CD labels, including Olympia (UK), Harmonia Mundi (France), Triton (Japan), Donemus (The Netherlands), Fancymusic (Russia), etc. Each season MCME gives around 70 concerts in Russia and abroad. The special place in repertoire is allocated for music of young Russian and foreign composers. The ensemble also takes active part in the international multimedia and theatrical projects. In 2009 MCME became the winner of the Award ACTION in support of theatrical initiatives. In 2013 MCME got the Award GOLDEN MASK.

http://mcme.iscmrussia.ru/about.html

 

dissonArt ensemble Thessaloniki. The Thessaloniki-based ensemble dissonArt was founded in 2005 with the intention to disseminate the stylistic diversity of new music in Greece as well as internationally. Following the model of similar contemporary orchestral groups, the ensemble is organized around a core of 6 soloists and associated partners, with a flexible internal structure. The ensemble's programmes aim to promote works of recognized as well as emerging composers that deserve to be heard. Music-theatre works and collaborations with groups of other artistic disciplines that result in the creation of original works are among the main objectives of dissonArt. The ensemble has closely collaborated with composers such as G.Aperghis, B.Furrer and Manos Tsangaris (music theatre commision: Love & Diversity). dissonArt's activity spectrum includes, among others, educational projects such as the organization and realization of a bi-annual Composition Competition in collaboration with the State Orchestra of Thessaloniki, and Composition/Performance Workshops held at the Music Village-Pilion (www.music-village.gr). The ensemble has also performed at the annual Composition Workshop ( 2006-2011) organised by Thessaloniki Concert Hall. dissonArt ensemble is performing frequently in Greece and abroad in prominent halls and festivals such as the Darmstadt International Summer Course for New Music, Ensembl[:E]uropa (Cologne), Klang Festival ( Copenhagen), Kunstfestspiele herrenhausen (Hannover), Forum Wallis (Switzerland), Milano incontra la Grecia (Milan), Klangspuren (Innsbruck ),4020. mehr als Musik (Linz), Athens Festival, Brucknerhaus, Minoritensaal, Piccolo Teatro, Onassis Cultural Centre, Thessaloniki Concert Hall a.o. In 2012 their live concert in Cologne was released by WDR3 and Dissonance Records.

http://www.dissonart.gr/en/

Taller Sonoro Sevilla. Since its creation in 2000, Taller Sonoro has tirelessly advanced in two main directions, the interpretation of the latest and most radical music in its aesthetic proposal, with the aim of offering it to the Spanish and international public with the highest degree of rigor and commitment; and support for young composers, offering the group itself as a useful and professional tool to fully develop their creative bet. The deployment of these two lines of action has been unstoppable in the last decade as it has been proven in a regular way in the Ciclo de Música Contemporanea in Seville and Granada from 2002, in seasons of CDMC at the Museo Reina Sofia Art Center, in the Ciclo de Música Comtemporanea in Córdoba, Malaga, Alicante, San Sebastian, KLEM (Bilbao) and ENSEMS (Valencia). Simultaneously, the international diffusion of the activity of Taller Sonoro has been one of its prime objectives, contributing to the knowledge of current Spanish repertoires in European scope (Bordeaux, Paris, Brest, Frankfurt a. Main, Berlin, Bremen, Musikverein Wien) and, singularly, it is a group of remarkable presence in Latin American latitudes. Certainly, the collaboration with other musical groups and access to the recording market decisively enriches the contribution of Taller Sonoro to the national scene: with several projects in which the group has collaborated with the Ensemble Organum Marcel Peres and the Ensemble Gilles Binchois conducted by Dominique Vellard, the phonographic presence of our group covers monographs devoted to composers such as José María Sánchez-Verdú, Juan Cruz, Cesar Camarero and David del Puerto. Moreover, the pedagogical work of Taller Sonoro and its collaboration with the promotions of younger composers has been a fundamental constant in its career. As evidence of this interest in direct and intimate contact with the composers at an early stage of professionalization, Taller Sonoro has undertaken several projects in recent years, currently valid thus, in 2008 established the position of “Resident Composer “, annually renewed and has already gone to Joav Pasowsky, Victor Ibarra and Christian Morales, and that in the same year the organization started an annual course, the “Taller Instrumental de Música Actual” (TIMAC), aimed at conservatory students and teachers in order to familiarize them with the current repertoire. Finally, Taller Sonoro, which since 2008 is managed from the promotional, administrative and artistic point of view by the company Ensemble Sonoro S. L. – has not forgotten the research, analysis and theoretical thoughts on the contemporary music: with more than twenty thousand visitors annually, the online magazine Espacio Sonoro, included since 2004 in the band’s website (www.tallersonoro.com) which is held every four months, it has become an essential reference for music lovers and for professionals who are interested in the sonic adventure of our time. In recent months, one of the initiatives received with greater expectations has been the creation of the Laboratorio de Música Electrónica de Andalucia Taller Sonoro (Laboratory of Electronic Music) (LEMAts), with the intention of making it an essential tool in our country for the composition of electronic music, both acousmatic and mixed, opened , like the instrumental group, to young composers. This is not, obviously, the only ajar door: We are aware of the necessity for opening horizons of repertoire, Taller Sonoro expects, in shortly, to make its staff more flexible; based on the initial organic-seven instrumentalists, held since its foundation- for specific projects in which the group will count on outside conductors ad hoc and visual artists who complete comprehensive proposals, so seductive in sound,spatial and visual fields, with the decisive addition of the fruits of LEMAts.

http://www.tallersonoro.com/

 

 






Zafraan steht für Musik, die das heutige Leben, die heutige Gesellschaft, die heutige Realität in all ihren Facetten reflektiert. Gemeinsam mit anderen Kunstformen beobachtet, erforscht und verarbeitet Zafraan das, was uns umgibt: die Menschen, das Geschehen, die Natur, die Technologien, die Normalitäten und die Absurditäten von heute. Die aus zehn festen Instrumentalisten aus Spanien, Frankreich, Neuseeland, Australien und Deutschland bestehende, basisdemokratisch organisierte Gruppe formierte sich 2009 in Berlin und spielt vorzugsweise aktuelles Repertoire, das von der Kernbesetzung mit Violine, Viola, Cello, Bass, Flöte, Klarinette, Saxophon, Harfe, Klavier und Percussion abgedeckt wird. Die Musiker fordern sich selbst und das Publikum, probieren aus und überraschen. In Zusammenarbeit mit Dirigenten wie Titus Engel oder Manuel Nawri, mit Künstlerinnen wie Chiharu Shiota, Aliénor Dauchez und Louise Wagner, mit Komponisten wie Samir Odeh-Tamimi, Alexander Schubert, Elena Mendoza, Stefan Keller, Johannes Borowski, Eres Holz und Helmut Oehring gehen sie ans Limit, provozieren, riskieren und schaffen Neues. Dabei entfaltet Zafraan die erzählerische Kraft der Musik, um das erlebbar zu machen, was erzählt werden muss.
Das Zafraan Ensemble setzt sich aus folgenden Mitgliedern zusammen: Liam Mallett (Flöten), Miguel Pérez Iñesta (Klarinetten), Martin Posegga (Saxophone), Anna Viechtl (Harfe), Daniel Eichholz (Schlagwerk), Clemens Hund-Göschel (Klavier), Emmanuelle Bernard (Violine/Viola), Josa Gerhard (Viola/Violine), Martin Smith (Violoncello) und Beltane Ruiz Molina (Kontrabass).
2017 erhält das Zafraan Ensemble eine Basisförderung durch der Senatsverwaltung für Kultur und Europa des Landes Berlin.

http://zafraanensemble.com/ensemble/

Photo: Neda Navaee

 Con el objetivo de estimular el desarrollo de la música contemporánea en México a través del fomento, la experimentación, producción, difusión y formación de la creación musical actual, el CONACULTA, el INBA y el FONCA fundaron en 2012 el CEPROMUSIC, cuyas actividades dieron inicio artísticamente con la presentación de su ensamble permanente con la interpretación de Tlachtli de Manuel Enríquez, y del Kammerkonzert de György Ligeti. Bajo la dirección artística de José Luis Castillo, el CEPROMUSIC se ha caracterizado por ser un espacio en el que convergen actividades artísticas y académicas en favor de la creación y difusión de la música contemporánea. En ese sentido el Ensamble CEPROMUSIC es uno de los instrumentos que permiten llevar a cabo los objetivos del Centro. Así pues, desde noviembre de 2012, el Ensamble ha ejecutado 105 conciertos con un total de 335 obras, de las cuales 113 han sido estrenos. Además de sus temporadas regulares en el Palacio de Bellas Artes, el ensamble CEPROMUSIC ha realizado residencias al interior de México y Estados Unidos y colabora habitualmente con otras disciplinas como vídeo, cine silente, teatro, danza y multimedia. El Ensamble CEPROMUSIC ha realizado tres giras internacionales presentándose con éxito en Estados Unidos (Center for New Music, Boston University y Americas Society, Nueva York. 2014), Inglaterra (Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, 2015, Escocia (Dundee Rep Theatre, sede de la compañía Scottish Dance Theatre, 2016), Estados Unidos (Multicultural Education and Counseling through the Arts, MECA, Houston, 2017) y España (U. de Alcalá de Henares, Projecte Rafel Festival y XXXVIII Encontre Internacional de Compositors, Madrid-Valencia-Mallorca, 2017). Su producción discográfica incluye la integral para ensamble de Manuel Enríquez así como Denudatio perfecta, que incluye obras de nueve creadores mexicanos a partir de una propuesta plástica de Sandra Pani. El repertorio del CEPROMUSIC reúne lo más amplio de la escena musical en la actualidad: de la nueva complejidad a la improvisación o del macro timbre al código en tiempo real; todo esto siempre con el fin de promover y difundir la creación contemporánea mexicana. Durante 2017, Ensamble CEPROMUSIC programó dos giras internacionales (Estados Unidos y España) y, antes de cerrar el año, grabará su quinta producción discográfica y ofrecerá su concierto de cierre de temporada el día 9 de diciembre.

https://cepromusic.inba.gob.mx
 Das Klangforum Wien – Eine Veranstaltung zur Verbesserung der Welt. 24 MusikerInnen aus zehn Ländern verkörpern eine künstlerische Idee und eine persönliche Haltung, die ihrer Kunst zurückgeben, was ihr im Verlauf des 20. Jahrhunderts allmählich und fast unbemerkt verloren gegangen ist: Einen Platz in ihrer eigenen Zeit, in der Gegenwart und in der Mitte der Gemeinschaft, für die sie komponiert wird und von der sie gehört werden will.
Seit seinem ersten Konzert, welches vom Ensemble noch als „Société de l’Art Acoustique“ unter der musikalischen Leitung seines Gründers Beat Furrer im Palais Liechtenstein gespielt wurde, hat das Klangforum Wien unversehens ein Kapitel Musikgeschichte geschrieben: An die fünfhundert Kompositionen von Komponist*innen aus drei Kontinenten hat das Ensemble uraufgeführt und so zum ersten Mal ihre Notenschrift in Klang übersetzt. Auf eine Diskographie von mehr als 70 CDs, auf eine Reihe von Preisen und Auszeichnungen und auf 2000 Auftritte in den ersten Konzert- und Opernhäusern Europas, Amerikas und Japans, bei den großen Festivals ebenso wie bei jungen engagierten Initiativen könnte das Klangforum Wien zurückblicken, wenn das Zurückblicken denn seine Sache wäre. Über die Jahre sind tiefe Künstlerfreundschaften mit herausragenden Komponist*innen, Dirigent*innen, Solist*innen, Regisseur*innen und engagierten Programmmacher*innen gewachsen. Am Profil des Klangforum Wien haben sie ebenso Anteil, wie dieses seinerseits ihr Werk mitgetragen und -geformt hat. In den letzten Jahren haben sich einzelne Mitglieder wie auch das Ensemble als Ganzes zunehmend um die Weitergabe von Ausdrucksformen und Spieltechniken an eine neue Generation von Instrumentalist*innen und Komponist*innen bemüht. Seit dem Jahr 2009 könnte sich das Klangforum Wien auf Grund eines Lehrauftrags der Kunstuniversität Graz auch in corpore „Professor“ nennen. Das alles würde äußerlich bleiben, wäre es nicht das Ergebnis des in den monatlichen Versammlungen aller Musiker*innen des Ensembles permanent neu definierten Willens eines Künstlerkollektivs, dem Musik letztlich nur ein Ausdruck von Ethos und Wissen um die eigene Verantwortung für Gegenwart und Zukunft ist. Und so wie die Kunst selbst ist auch das Klangforum Wien nichts anderes als eine durch ihr Metier nur sehr behelfsmäßig getarnte Veranstaltung zur Verbesserung der Welt. Wenn sie das Podium betreten, wissen die Musiker*innen des Ensembles, dass es nur um eines geht: Um alles. Eros und Unbedingtheit dieses Wissens machen das Besondere der Konzerte des Klangforum Wien aus. Wer über die Geschichte des Ensembles gerne mit Zahlen, Daten und Fakten bedient sein will, ist herzlich willkommen, diese auf www.klangforum.at nachzulesen. Für eine kurze Biographie des Ensembles schien es uns aber richtig, entgegen einer mehr dem Statistischen verpflichteten Konvention den Versuch einer Skizze des inneren Wesens des Klangforum Wien zu unternehmen.
Die Mitglieder des Klangforum Wien stammen aus Australien, Bulgarien, Deutschland, Finnland, Frankreich, Griechenland, Italien, Österreich, Schweden und der Schweiz. Sylvain Cambreling, Friedrich Cerha und Beat Furrer sind die drei herausragenden Musiker, denen das Klangforum Wien im Verlauf seiner 25-jährigen Geschichte durch jeweils einstimmigen Beschluss aller Musiker*innen die Ehrenmitgliedschaft des Ensembles verliehen hat. Mit Beginn der Saison 2018/2019 hat Bas Wiegers die Aufgabe des Ersten Gastdirigenten von Sylvain Cambreling übernommen, der dem Ensemble als Erster Gastdirigent emeritus verbunden bleibt.

www.klangforum.at









Das Ensemble ö! wurde 2002 gegründe und setzte von Beginn an ganz auf die Aufführung zeitgenössischer Musik. Heute zählt das Ensemble feste 13 Mitglieder plus Zuzüger. Hauptdirigent ist Francesc Prat. Mit ö! wurde die zeitgenössische Musik auch in Chur und Graubünden institutionalisiert. In der Schweizer Szene der neuen Musik ist das Ensemble ein fester Bestandteil und dank der Spielorte in Chur, Basel und Zürich regelmässig einem breiten Publikum zugänglich. Einladungen unter anderem ans London Ear Festival, ans Festival Archipel Genf, ins Tinguely-Museum Basel, an die Schlossmediale Werdenberg, in die Casa Cultura Ringel Trin, zum Hegnerhof in Kloten, ans Musikpodium Zürich, an die Musikhochschule nach Saarbrücken oder an die Münchener Biennale. In seinem Repertoire hat das Ensemble bisher 447 Werke von 178 verschiedenen Komponist*innen, davon wurden 69 uraufgeführt und vor allem auch wiederaufgeführt. Die Wiederaufnahme von Repertoirewerken ist dem Ensemble ein grosses Anliegen, gewinnen die Werke doch mit jeder neuen Aufführung an Reife, Tiefgang und aussagekräftiger Interpretation. 2019 wurde auf Initiative von ö! die Biennale „tuns contemporans“ gegründet, die zusammen mit der Kammerphilharmonie Graubünden durchgeführt wird. Seither wurden drei Ausgaben realisiert, die 4. Ausgabe wird im März/April 2025 stattfinden. 2021 wurde das Kuratorium Ensemble ö! gegründet. In diesem sind neben Fachleuten aus Musik und Literatur auch Geistes- und Naturwissenschaften vertreten. Das Kuratorium hat die Aufgabe, die Konzertprogramme transdisziplinär zu diskutieren und in einen grösseren aussermusikalischen Kontext zu stellen.


http://ensemble-oe.ch




WOLFGANG MITTERER
 EGIDIUS STREIFF
 TAKAO HYAKUTOME



Wolfgang Mitterer lives in Vienna. Mitterer studied organ, composition and electroacoustics in Vienna and Stockholm. He is not only one of the Austrian specialists for electronics as well as being equally brilliant on the keyboard and on the slide controls, but is also one of the most innovative composers. His work oscillates between composition and open form. Apart from music for organ and orchestra, a piano concerto and an opera he has produced electronic pieces, conceptualized sound installations, and engaged in collective improvisation with diverse groups, developing a language of extremes, tension and complexity. The pleasure he takes in experimenting leads him to combine contrasting elements in the creation of unpredictable musical events. In one major composition, for instance, he juxtaposes musical bands and children’s choirs with specialized instrumentalists and singers, while filling the hall with surround sound created by live electronics. But his work transcends the merely spectacular, precisely because of his musical presence and the high – deeply moving – intensity and complexity of his compositions. Listening intensely to low sounds has its place just as much as the “installing” of exploding sound fragments in the listeners’ minds. Far from being smoothly pleasurable, Mitterer’s music is still uncannily beautiful at times.

http://www.wolfgangmitterer.com/		 Egidius Streiff ist leidenschaftlich Geiger. Er unterrichtet an der Musikakademie Basel und unternimmt Tourneen um die ganze Welt. Aufnahmen für Radio und TV (u.a. CCTV 9 Direktübertragung des Konzerts von Wang Xi-Lin). Unzählige Werke sind ihm gewidmet worden - allein seit 2012 hat er vier neue Violinkonzerte erfolgreich zur Uraufführung gebracht.  Gründer der Chuluun Foundation Ulan Bator für den kulturellen Austausch  mit Zentralasien; Initiant von www.pyongyangklang.ch unter dem Patronat von BR Micheline Calmy-Rey. Heute ist Streiff künstlerischer Ko-Leiter von Klangraum Riehen Marlboro und des CD-Labels streiffzug.com,

http://egidiusstreiff.ch

Photo: Friedel Ammann
Born in Sapporo, Takao Hyakutome started violin lessons at the age of 4. He studied at the Conservatory of Maastricht (Bachelor degree) and the Royal Flemish Conservatory of Antwerp (Master degree with high honours) with Prof. Dirk Verelst (violin and chamber music) and Prof. Wim Henderickx (composition). After having won several prizes at international competitions, he is now preeminently a solo violinist and violist, and regularly premieres works for both violin solo and ensemble. He also works with ChampdAction and many other chamber music groups. He has performed in festivals like Ultraschall in Berlin, Biennale Musiques en Scène in Lyon, ME_MMIX in Palma de Mallorca, Mixtur in Barcelona, Forum Wallis in Leuk, and many others. Besides being active as a performer, Takao also does research on extended violin techniques and 5 string violin/viola. He is often invited to give masterclasses and workshops lecturing on these subjects. Furthermore, he is a member of the research group performance practice in perspective at the Conservatory of Antwerp. Takao performs on the violin, Edoardo Marchetti, Torino, 1910; the 5 string violin, Stefan Jarosz, 2013, Antwerp; and the electric 5 string violin, John Jordan, Concord, 2011.

http://takaohyakutome.com/




CHAO-MING TUNG
 MANUEL MENGIS HANS-PETER PFAMMATTER

Chao-Ming Tung is a Taiwanese-born composer and gu-zheng player (Chinese zither). His music encompasses stage, instrumental, vocal, and electro-acoustic works, and multimedia-performances with visual arts and dance. Since 2000 he has gradually incorporated Chinese instruments into his music, and improvises with gu-zheng and live electronics in concerts. In 1988 he began composition studies with Chien Nan-Chang in the Chinese-Culture-University Taipei. He continued his training from 1990 -1997 at the Musikhochschule Köln Germany with Johannes Fritsch and Mauricio Kagel, and later at the Folkwang-Hochschule Essen with Nicolaus A. Huber, where he graduated with distinction. Since 1999 he has worked as a freelance composer and musician, and facilitates East-West cultural exchanges. Tung's work has been presented in concerts of numerous festivals throughout Europe, Asia, and the USA. He has collaborated with choreographers, dancers, painters, musicians, ensembles, sound-, media- and video artists, e.g. Annegret Heiln, René Pieters, Bernhard Gal, Klang Forum Wien, Ensemble Ictus, Ensemble Modern, ensemble 2e2m, Ensemble On-Line Vienna , ensemble DEDALO, and China Found Music Workshop Taipei. He was awarded the Bernd Alois Zimmermann Scholarship for Composers from the City of Cologne in 1999, the Scholarship of National Culture and Arts Foundation Taiwan in 2001 and the Scholarship of Villa Aurora Los Angles, second award of international Xu Chang Hui composition competition Taiwan. He is a composer in residence of China Found Music Workshop Taipei since 2006 and guest professor for composition at the National Ciao Tung University 2007. Manuel Mengis, 1972 in Visp geboren, Musiker/Bergführer, Ausbildung an der Hochschule Luzern, erhielt mehrere Preise und Auszeichnungen, spielt seit Jahren im In- und Ausland, hauptsächlich im Bereich der improvisierten Musik, daneben Projekte im Feld der E-Musik/ Theater. Kollaboration mit: Bruno Amstadt, Arthur Blythe, Pierre Audetat, Stefanie Ammann, Christoph Coburger, Roberto Domeniconi, Achim Escher, Christoph Erb, Donat Fisch, Lionel Friedli, Roland von Flue, Andy Guhl, Flo Götte, Vincent Glanzmann, Hämmi Hämmerli, Barbara Heynen, Franz Hellmüller, Harald Haerther, Gilbert Jossen, Jonas Imhof, Hans Koch, Valentin Kessler, Vera Kappeler, Peter Landis, Patrice Moret, Vincent Membrez, Christian Niederer, Jonathan Nott, Roman Novka, Bänz Oester, Adrian Pflugshaupt, Andre Pousaz, Hans-Peter Pfammatter, Marcel Papaux, Norbert Pfammatter, Luca Ramella, Samuel Rohrer, Bruno Spoerri, Co Streiff, Flo Stoffner, Fredy Studer, Irene Schweizer, Julian Sartorius, Luca Sisera, Marcel Stalder, Philipp Schaufelberger, Peter Schärli, Rafael Schilt, Reto Suhner, Tobias Schramm, Manuel Troller, Christian Weber und anderen.

http://manuelmengis.ch 		Hans-Peter Pfammatter (* 1974 in Sierre) ist ein Schweizer Jazzpianist und Komponist. Pfammatter spielte als Kind zunächst Trompete, bevor er dreizehnjährig zum Klavier wechselte. Er spielte in verschiedenen Rock-, Pop- und Jazzbands und studierte von 1995 bis 1999 an der Jazzschule von Luzern. Er spielte dann in Aufnahmen von Bänz Oester, Gilbert Paeffgen und Werner Hasler und trat in Konzerten mit Corin Curschellas, Ray Anderson, Christy Doran, Fredy Studer, Tony Overwater, Fee Claasen, Brad Dutz und Alexander Sipiagin auf. 2001 wurde er Mitglied der Gruppe New Bag von Christy Doran. Mit dem Klarinettisten Lucien Dubuis, dem Bassisten Urban Lienert und dem Schlagzeuger Lionel Friedli gründete er die Gruppe Scope, mit der er 2007 das Album Nu Gara herausbrachte. Daneben komponierte Pfammatter Musiken für Schauspiele (unter anderem Tag des Jammers mit Peter Schärli), Kurzfilme und Hörspiele sowie mehrere Streichquartette.

http://www.scopesonic.ch/





LUIS TABUENCA




Composer and percussionist Luis Tabuenca was born in Zaragoza, Spain. His music integrates elements from other disciplines, with compositions ranging from opera, installations, sound sculptures, films, ballet, chamber music and solo works. He studied at the Conservatories of Zaragoza, Barcelona, Amsterdam and the University of California at San Diego with Steven Schick, Philippe Manoury and Mark Dresser, also attending workshops with Tristan Murail, Carola Bauckholt, Rebecca Saunders and Alexander Schubert, among others. He is celebrated for his incomparable virtuosity, mastery and an extraordinary ability to blend composition and improvisation in his work. He has performed nationally and internationally with his own ensembles, as well with artists such as Peter Veale, Séverine Ballon, Naomi Sato, John Edwards, Hans Tammen, Dafna Naphtali, and Imre Thormann, among many others. The Wire magazine has praised Tabuenca for his instrumental  creativity, “Tabuenca’s colourful percussion is involving, beautiful and immaculately sequenced.” The All about Jazz magazine noted that Tabuenca’s music is “full of nuanced drama, arresting tension and vibrant colors”. As a leader, he has released seven critically acclaimed recordings that feature his work as a composer and percussionist. He has recorded for Mode Records, Aural Terrains, Diatribe, Verso, Sinkro, Naucleshg and Acheulian Handaxe Records. He is co-founder and Artistic Director of the International Experimental Music Festival (FAT) and he has been Artist in Residence at the New York University, Electroacustic Music Days (Portugal), Canterbury University, and the Phonos Foundation, among others. Tabuenca has received awards and support for his creative projects from the Fulbright Commission, the Ministry of Culture of Spain, Government of Aragon, Institut Ramon Llull and the ICUB from Barcelona. Tabuenca has given lectures and workshops on composition, percussion and improvisation in numerous universities and cultural institutions, such as Goldsmith University, National University of Colombia, American University in Cairo, Bulgaria National Conservatory and New York University. 

https://luistabuenca.com/

Photo: Luis Tabuenca




 

    

 

    
UMS'nJIP are a Swiss contemporary music duo based in Münster (Valais/Switzerland) at the foot of the Finsteraarhorn and the Rhone Glacier, consisting of Ulrike Mayer-Spohn (UMS) on recorders & electronics and Javier Hagen (JIP), voice & electronics. One of the most experienced and distinguished contemporary music laboratories of our times, they work as composers, performers and organizers within a global network of composers, visual artists, stage directors, researchers, universities and festivals. Their special interest in long term collaboration, with its exchange of knowledge and awareness, brings context to new creations and results in an outstanding increase of artistic content. In this manner, UMS'nJIP explore new settings for voice, recorders and electronics, ranging from live to digital performance in concert, scenic or installative formats and often integrate European as well as non-European music. UMS'nJIP have been invited to perform at prestigious contemporary music festivals around the world including Zürich, Lucerne, Donaueschingen, Stuttgart, Berlin, Paris, Venice, Barcelona, Athens, Istanbul, Cairo, Moscow, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul, Tongyeong, Tokyo, Buenos Aires, Mexico City, and New York. They have premiered hundreds of works, collaborating with both world famous and aspiring young composers such as Heiner Goebbels, Wolfgang Rihm, Mauricio Kagel, Jennifer Walshe, Wolfgang Mitterer, Erik Oña, Luis Codera Puzo, Chikashi Miyama, Du Yun, Huang Ruo and Guo Wenjing. They can look back on more than 1400 concerts since their debut in 2007 and are one of the most active contemporary music ensembles worldwide, bringing both young and established works not only to famous venues but also to audiences who do not have easy access to live performances of top quality contemporary music. Both individually and as a duo UMS and JIP have received numerous commissions and awards and have been invited to share their knowledge in renowned universities in Europe, America and Asia. JIP is also the director of the Swiss Contemporary Music Festival Forum Wallis and the current president of ISCM Switzerland, he serves as well the boards of the European Conference of Promoters of New Music ECPNM (2014-8), the Swiss Music Edition, and of the UNESCO Commission for the Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage in the Canton of Valais (2009-18). Since 2013 UMS has been pioneering two research projects: Recorder Map and Recorderology, and the duo has been invited to act as experts in the European Union's FP7 i-Treasures project.

A high performance small scale contemporary music laboratory and global network. Although UMS’nJIP do handle an impressive workload, their aim is not to premiere as much as possible but to perform new works as often as possible – since works basically grow by being performed. At a time in which it is increasingly difficult to defend reflective, not primarily commercially-oriented music, UMS’nJIP maximize artistic adventurousness by reducing economic risk to a minimum: Strict adherence to a small cast, supported by exceptional and internationally recognized experience, expertise, versatility, agility and unique ness means that UMS’nJIP can call themselves one of the most active contemporary music ensembles worldwide, alongside Ensemble Modern, Intercontemporain and Kronos Quartet. The large number of performances implies a remarkably high performance rate of new works (up to 100 performances per work, well above the global average for classical contemporary music < 5), and, more important, this deeply benefits the performance quality and emotional impact of the performed works. Thanks to the consistently small scale of their projects, UMS’nJIP can achieve their projects with both great flexibility and irregular financing, especially in countries where new music is in a politically and financially difficult position and the featuring of high quality new music is particularly important in concerts and teaching. Fully aware that creativity cannot only be brought to society by performances but also by active participation in cultural politics, UMS’nJIP are also involved in different local, national and international structures. Within these structures, they have initiated more than 500 further projects and commissions since 2006.

http://umsnjip.ch/

 

UMS.

Extraordinary diversity describes the composer and multi-instrumentalist Ulrike Mayer-Spohn who plays the recorder (with a focus on contemporary music), as well as historical string instruments (fiddle and baroque violin). She studied composition and audio design with Erik Oña at the Studio of Electronic Music, Academy of Music, Basel, beginning to compose in 2007, and receiving commissions from the festival Forum Valais and the international New Music Days, Shanghai. Her work has been performed by the Stuttgart Vocal soloists, Ensemble Phoenix Basel, Vertigo, DissonArt, L'Arsenale, cool a cappella (1st Prize world choir games 2008) and her own ensemble Ums' n Jip in Switzerland, France, Greece, Italy, Russia, Australia, the USA and China, premiered under the baton of Beat Furrer, Mark Foster, Tsung Yeh, Jürg Henneberger and Filippo Perocco and broadcast by the Swiss radio. She was awarded the 1st Prize in the Walter Ferrato composition contest in Savona 2017, the 1st Prize in the Weimarer Frühjahrstage für Zeitgenössische Musik composition contest 2017, the 1st Prize in the London Ear Festival composition contest 2016, the 2nd Prize in the composition competition Culturescapes 2010, 2nd Prize in the composition competition at the Bern music festival 2011, the Scholarship Award for 2011 at the Music Village Mount Pelion in Greece and the Call for Scores Award L'Arsenale Treviso, Italy 2011. In the ensemble Ums' n Jip she has undertaken research in the field of musical theater (chamber operas One, Two, Three, Four, Five), live electronic music and sound spacialization. She studied recorder with Ulrike Mauerhofer at the Musikhochschule Karlsruhe, with Conrad Steinmann and Corina Marti at the Schola Cantorum Basel before specializing in contemporary music and studying with Dorothea Winter at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague. From 2009-11 she studied for a specialized master's degree in contemporary performance at the HSM in Basel supervised by Jürg Henneberger, Marcus Weiss and Mike Svoboda and has taken masterclasses with Marion Verbruggen, Peter van Heyghen, Sebastien Marq and Gerd Lünenbürger. She studied baroque violin and viola with Martina Graulich and David Plantier and fiddle with Randal Cook in Basel. Ulrike Mayer-Spohn works with internationally leading composers and annually plays more than 20 world premieres dedicated to her, which she has recorded for the radio as well as VDE Gallo and col legno on CD. Together with the Swiss composer and singer Javier Hagen, she established the experimental new music duo Ums `N Jip for voice, recorder and electronics, which, alongside the Ensemble Modern, Intercontemporain and Kronos is one of the most active ensembles worldwide and in 2011 won the prestigious MusiquePro scholarship. Since 1999, Ulrike Mayer-Spohn has also performed as a recorder player, violinist, violist and fiddle player in specialized early music ensembles such as the Amsterdam Barok Compagnie, Freitagsakademie, Collegium Musicum Stuttgart, La Chapelle Ancienne, Musica Poetica, Muscadin and La Morra and has performed in Germany, China, the Netherlands, France, Spain, Italy and Switzerland. ulrikems.info

 

 

JIP.

Javier Hagen is one of the most astonishing classical singers of his generation: new music, performance art and Swiss folk music rank equally in his repertoire alongside opera and early music. Hagen was born as Javier-Ignacio Palau-Ribes (JIP) in 1971 in Barcelona and raised between 6 languages on the Mediterranean and in the Valais Alps. He studied classical singing (both tenor and countertenor) in Germany, Italy and Switzerland with Roland Hermann, Alain Billard and Nicolai Gedda, and composition with Heiner Goebbels and Wolfgang Rihm. He studied Lied with Irwin Gage, Hartmut Höll and Ernst Haefliger and early music with Karel van Steenhoven and Kees Boeke. He has a four-octave vocal range. Hagen has worked with world-class composers such as Reimann, Kagel, Rosenmann and Eötvös and leading artists from the worlds of concrete poetry and constructive art such as Eugen Gomringer, Uecker and Rolf Schroeter. Guest appearances have taken him to the modern music festivals in Donaueschingen, Zurich, Geneva, Lucerne, Karlsruhe, Amsterdam, Strasbourg, Bologna, Milan, Prague, New York, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Adelaide, Riga, Avignon and Berlin. Alongside operatic roles such as Handel's Giulio Cesare, Zsupan (Kalman), Dardanus (Rameau), Stanislaus (Zeller), Bruno (Roesler), Toni (Kalman) and Pappacoda (Strauss), Javier Hagen has premiered more than 300 works, including operas 'à l'air en verre' by Daniel Mouthon 'eismeer' by Christoph Schiller, 'poem ohne held' by Regina Irman, 'esther de racine' by Boris Yoffe, 'The Madman's Diary' by Guo Wenjing, 'Marienglas' by Beat Gysin, 'Les Musiciens de Brème' by Wen Deqing, 'Keyner nit' by Mathias Steinauer, 'Ushba et Tetnuld' by Nicolas Vérin and almost all vocal works by Maria Porten. He has made more than 50 recordings and broadcasts for Swiss, German, French, Czech, Chinese, Russian, Mongolian, Spanish, Egyptian, Italian and Latvian radio and television. He won prizes at international contemporary music and composition competitions in 2001, 2004 and 2008 in Basel, Lausanne and Dusseldorf. In 2003, his distorted folk song arrangements "s´sch mr alles 1 Ding" were released on CD on the Swiss label "musiques suisses". His compositions, in particular the vocal works, are performed throughout Europe, Israel, China, Korea, Russia, Australia, North and Central America, by ensembles and conductors including Titus Engel, Ensemble Phoenix, Basler Madrigalisten, Schweizer Jugendchor, Männerstimmen Basel, Philip Bride, Eliana Burki, Amar Quartet. In 2012, a selection of his graphic scores was shown at the prestigious Museum of Modern Art ‘haus konstruktiv’ in Zurich. At the European Youth Choir Festival 2012, Javier Hagen represented German-speaking Switzerland in the context of 'Swiss Composers meet Europe'. With Ulrike Mayer-Spohn, Hagen formed the experimental new music duo UMS 'n JIP, which, with over 100 concerts annually is one of the most active and prolific contemporary music ensembles around the world and winner of the prestigious scholarship MusiquePro. Javier Hagen also directs the international contemporary music festival Forum Wallis, hosting Stockhausen's Helicopter String Quartet with André Richard and the Arditti String Quartet in 2015. He is called as an expert on experimental music theater for the University of Arts in Bern, he is the President of the Swiss Section of the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM Switzerland), of IGNM-VS and serves the boards of the European Conference of Promoters of New Music ECPNM (2015-2018), of the Swiss Music Edition (2016-), Score Follower (2020-) and Swissfestivals (2013-2019). He presents guest lectures at universities in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul, Taipei, Tokyo, Moscow, Istanbul, Cairo, Buenos Aires, Adelaide, New York, Thessaloniki, Barcelona, Riga and is member of the academic board of the Contemporary Opera Academy at the Festival de Nueva Opera de Buenos Aires (FNOBA) related to the Teatro Colon. He is a jury member at national and international composition and new music competitions (a.o. ISCM World Music Days Young Composers Award, Bohol Philippines Int. Choir Competition) and a member of various committees on behalf of the canton of Valais as well as for the inventory of the cultural heritage on behalf of UNESCO (2009-2018). In 2007 he was nominated for "Walliser of the Year." In 2013 he was awarded the Prix Culturel de l'Etat du Valais. In 2021 he was appointed by the Inamori Foundation to nominate candidates for the renowned Kyoto Music Prize. javierhagen.ch