2023 - 50 events, 16 world premieres and a
prestigious guest appearance at the Istanbul Philharmony
(CRR) within the Sesin Yolculuğu 14.
Young Composers Contemporary Music Festival
Istanbul, with UMS’nJIP being one of the first foreign
ensembles ever invited to perform in this
festival, further, collaborations with dissonArt
(Integrations), Luis Tabuenca (neophyten) and Simone
Conforti (Ars Electronica Forum Wallis and Ars Acusmatica
MEbU), two new song cycles based on poems by Rolf Hermann
(im störgarten & neophyten), and a long-awaited new
electropop opera Woyzeck based on Georg Büchner's
famous play, this is a brief resumé of
an intensive 2023 full of preparation work.
UMS’nJIP is slowly getting back on track after the
pandemic. As mentioned above, we have further developed
the art song format and composed and rehearsed two
new, full-length song cycles: im störgarten already had
its premiere in 2023; neophyten implies large
improvised parts, which are intended to be played
in the long term with different, even non-European
constellations; the premiere is scheduled to take place
in 2024. Woyzeck has been developed as a hybrid
between installation, performance and mobile music
theatre; its premiere is also planned for 2024.
For Integrations, we have expanded our compositions
based on texts by Franz Kafka to a dimension of 40
minutes. Adventurous Sounds is taking its next
step in Switzerland in an intercantonal exchange
project. At MEbU in Münster we also hosted the Ars
Electronica Forum Wallis Selection Concerts for the first
time and opened an acousmatic concert series named Ars
Acusmatica. The latter experienced a total of 8
concerts with 4 different programs so far. Also worth
mentioning are the numerous composition prizes for UMS: 2
Special Prizes at the 3rd Ise-Shima
International Composition Competition (Japan) for fKFW
(written an performed by Klangforum Wien as well as
dissonArt) for fTS+18 (written for Taller Sonoro
and also performed by zafraan Berlin and Fabian Panisello)
as well as the honorable mention at the 6th
International Composition Competition GMCL / Jorge
Peixinho (Portugal) for fCJP-23. She also received an
attractive commission to compose fER for the Ensemble
Resonez. fER was performed, among other places, at the
Lausanne Cathedral. >6,000 concert-goers,
>500,000 registered hits on social
media, >100,000 views on our YouTube channels are
the other key figures for 2023. Works by composers
Simone Conforti, John Chowning, Bihe Wen,
Felipe Otondo, Robert McClure, Bernard Parmegiani,
Alessio Rossato, Dominic Thibault, Mattia Parisse, Zach
Thomas, Thiago Salas, Renan Gama, Karl F. Gerber, Luigi
Ceccarelli, Daniel Mayer, Nolan Hildebrand,
Jonty Harrison, Adolf Imhof, Stefano Gervasoni, Anton
Svetlichny, Mathias Steinauer, Erik Oña, Deniz Hatipoğlu,
Tokzhan Karatai, Yunus Eren Kirmizigül, Şahin Kureta, Egemen
Kurt, Ata Gökalp Öz, Gökçe Türkoğlu, Louise Rossiter, Gilles
Gobeil, Beatriz Ferreira, Manuella Blackburn, Alfredo Ardia,
Andrián Pertout, Panayiotis Kokoras, Leonie Roessler,
Nicholas Chase, Motoharu Kawashima and both UMS and JIP
have been performed, premiered and recorded.
Finally, many thanks to our main supporters in
Switzerland: Kulturrat des Kantons Wallis, Pro Helvetia
(Swiss Art Council) as well as to our 2023
hosting structures: Fabra i Coats Barcelona, Forum
Wallis, Binner Kulturtage, Gemeinde Goms, Istanbul
Metropolitan Municipality, Akdeniz University State
Conservatory, Bilkent University Faculty of Music and
Performing Arts, Dokuz Eylül University State Conservatory,
Hacettepe University Ankara State Conservatory, Istanbul
Bilgi University Music Department, Istanbul Technical
University – MIAM, Istanbul Topkapı University, Istanbul
University State Conservatory, Kocaeli University State
Conservatory, Maltepe University Conservatory, Mimar Sinan
Fine Arts University Istanbul State Conservatory, Uludağ
University State Conservatory, Yaşar University Faculty of
Art and Design, Department of Music, Yıldız Technical
University Faculty of Art and Design, Sesin Yolculuğu 14.
Young Composers Contemporary Music Festival Istanbul
and the Istanbul Cemal Reşit Rey (CRR) Concert Hall.
2022 - Let's not beat around the bush, the long-term
effects of the pandemic are only now emerging with full
impact: we need to rebuild our work almost from scratch, so
to speak, there was hardly a year in which we played so few
concerts as in 2022, as, for more than two years, we could
not plan anything bindingly. Nevertheless: we did a lot of
composing and arranging and took care of the
construction of our rehearsal and performance venue MEBU (Münster Earport)
in Goms (Valais/Switzerland) in the heart of the Valais
Alps. MEbU opened its doors in December 2022. Unique to MEBU
is a permanently installed 16-channel acousmonium to
perform electroacoustic (acousmatic) music - one of the few
publicly accessible of its kind in Europe - as well as
a remarkable collection of historical keyboard instruments
for the historically informed performance of Early Music.
2022 also saw the publication of our brochure UMS
'n JIP 2007-2022 with a graphically very attractive
summary of all the activities of the first 15 years of
our existence. Further, 2 CDs were released: Live Capitol
Brig with Mengis-Hagen-Pfammatter-Papaux and UMS as sound
engineer at Wide Ear Records and Shimmer... Tree by
Kotoka Suzuki at Starkland. Both releases received excellent
reviews, Suzuki's CD even won a gold medal at the
Global Music Awards and an award at Best Contemporary
Classical in the USA. The number of live projects,
however, is limited: a concert with the German Via Nova
Ensemble at the Kellertheater in Brig, where we premiered a
new work by Max E. Keller, the invitation to the
glamorous LAC Lugano as part of the Oggi Musica festival,
where we performed Mathias Steinauer's Einfalt and
a duo version of two of JIP's Kafka-Erzählungen,
Adventurous Sounds with the MKZ Zurich kids, a new work by
Kee Yong Chong and the MEBU opening concerts with the
programs Playing with Morton and Einfalt. Check all the
tour pics and press releases at http://umsnjip.ch/photos-concerttours.htm and http://umsnjip.ch/press2022.htm.
Works by composers Beat Gysin, Anton Svetlichny, Mehmet
Ali Uzunselvi, Morton Feldman, Mathias
Steinauer, Motoharu Kawashima, Max E. Keller, Shintaro
Imai, and both UMS and JIP were performed, premiered
and recorded. And finally, we cordially thank our main
supporters in Switzerland - Conseil de la Culture
du Canton du Valais, Pro Helvetia (Swiss Art Council) - as
well as our 2022 hosting partners: Musica Aperta, MKZ,
LAC Lugano, UpSide Editions, Oggi Musica.
2021 - It has been a difficult year
facing all main and side effects related to the
pandemic: the disappearance of 90% of the projects
planned for 2021, no planning horizon at all, financial and
logistical uncertainties on all sides, nerve-racking
short-termism in almost all vital issues, and
uncertainty about whether and how we can continue to work
after the pandemic. Despite all the major obstacles,
however, there was also good news and insights: Online
solutions such as streaming concerts are not an option
for us, as they remain far below an artistically justifiable
and acoustically reasonable quality. Small formats will
remain our main format. They are the most sustainable,
viable and functional model for us in the field of
contemporary music around the globe. It is only this
way we can guarantee the highest artistic
quality consistently, along with the highest possible
performance frequency. After all, it is the highest sound
and performance quality which remains the strongest and
most credible argument for New Music. An important
decision for us in 2021 is the opening of MEbU, the Münster
Earport in Münster, Goms, Valais at the foot of the Finsteraarhorn
and the Rhone
Glacier: our own autonomous rehearsal and
performance space, in the middle of the Swiss Alps and at
the same time centrally connected to the most important
European transport axes. The fact that Münster is close
to our family roots in Goms is one of the good whims
of history. MEBU allows us, as a duo as well as
together with our cooperation partners - artists, composers,
stage directors, musicians and ensembles - to rehearse
without restriction throughout the year and also to
perform publicly on site. It is a decisive step into
autonomy and provides us with a large additional scope
for action. Concept work is central for us in 2021:
This includes the ensemble`s master plan for the coming
years, a booklet about the history of UMS 'n JIP since
2007, an extensive article about the situation of the (new)
music scene in Switzerland at the time of the pandemic
published in the ISCM World New Music Magazine WNMM (https://iscm.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/WNMM2020.pdf),
important SGNM statements in favor of the
alternative music scene for the Swiss Music Council, the
interface with the Swiss Federal Parliament, the
publication of songbooks with Valais folk songs both
for school and home use as well as two songbooks with easy
choral settings of popular sacred songs, the
publication of the catalog of works of Swiss composer
Maria Porten, the participation in various international
juries, among which the honorable appointment of JIP to
the nomination committee of the prestigious Kyoto
Music Prize in Japan, in addition to the jury work at the
ISCM Int. Choral Composition Competition for the 100th
anniversary of ISCM, deserve special mention.
For the ISCM we also worked/are working for the
preparations of the Centennial World New Music Days in South
Africa in 2023. And we held New Music Festival Forum Wallis at Leuk
Castle, as in 2020, during the summer vacations and in a
reduced form. With Ensemble Modern, Lukas Ligeti and our
esteemed colleagues from the Swiss new music and
improvisation scene as our guests, the program was as
top-class as ever. We were unable to hold any concerts in
Switzerland in 2021 as part of a regular
annual schedule; but abroad, we were guests in
Italy (ArteScienza Rome), Austria (Impuls Graz), Germany
(Kunsthalle Erfurt), Spain (Vertixe Festival) and Belgium
(Musimatrix Kortrijk and Alde Biesen) during
the short opening period in summer and fall. And
so even this year we can look back on a total of 32
performances. Check all the tour pics and press releases at
http://umsnjip.ch/photos-concerttours.htm
and http://umsnjip.ch/press2021.htm.
Works by composers Beat Gysin, Anton Svetlichny, Mehmet Ali
Uzunselvi, Morton Feldman, Kotoka Suzuki, Deqing Wen,
Mathias Steinauer, Motoharu Kawashima, Reuben de
Lautour, Max E. Keller, Luciano Berio, Georges
Aperghis, Shintaro Imai, Christoph Ogiermann, Tona Scherchen
and both UMS and JIP were performed, premiered and
recorded. And finally, we cordially thank our main
supporters in Switzerland - Conseil de la Culture du Canton
du Valais, Pro Helvetia (Swiss Art Council) - as well as our
2021 hosting partners: Musica Impulse Centre for Music
Belgium, Vertixe Sonora, Via Nova, Impuls Akademie,
ArteScienza Roma, ISCM, IGNM-VS.
2020 - 78 performances in the pandemic
year 2020 are, even if only a fraction of the originally
scheduled dates (>150), still a privileged high number of
events, even in normal years. "Reduce to the Max"
proves to be a remarkably stable and crisis-resistant
ensemble concept. Guest appearances at the Concertgebouw
Brugge in Belgium (Musimatrix - http://umsnjip.ch/program-2020-eersteklasconcerten.htm)
and at the Theatre Dunois in Paris (Faux Amis with
Pablo Maritano - http://umsnjip.ch/program-2020-fauxamis.htm),
collaborations with the acclaimed Klangforum Wien premiering
two works by either UMS and JIP (http://integrations.umsnjip.ch),
and a new electropop opera based on Dickens’ famous novel „A
Christmas Carol“ (http://umsnjip.ch/program-achristmascarol.htm),
these are the highlights of 2020. In addition, there
are improvisation concerts with
Mengis-Hagen/JIP-Pfammatter-Papaux and UMS as sound
engineer, one of them for Fritz Lang's film "Frau im Mond",
which is expected to be released as a double CD on Wide
Ear Records, 2 concert programs with performances in Valais,
Bern, Basel and Zurich (On Cage - http://umsnjip.ch/program-2020-oncage.htm
and Avantgarde Arranged - http://umsnjip.ch/program-arrangedavantgarde2020.htm)
as well as the Corona projects „Keep Calm &
Wash Your Hands“ (http://umsnjip.ch/program-2020-washyourhands.htm)
and „Keep Calm & Learn Folk Songs“ (http://umsnjip.ch/volkslieder.htm).
The folk song program is linked to the publication of a
songbook for school and home use (http://umsnjip.ch/program-2020-learnfolksongs.htm).
Check all the tour pics and press releases at http://umsnjip.ch/photos-concerttours.htm and http://umsnjip.ch/press2020.htm. >10,000
concert-goers, >500,000 registered hits on social media,
>70,000 views on our YouTube channels are the other key
figures for the corona year 2020. Works by composers
John Cage, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Morton Feldman, Klaus
Lang, Erik Oña, Stefano Gervasoni, Motoharu Kawashima,
Sungji Hong, Reuben de Lautour, Luis Codera Puzo,
Andrea Cotti, Ernests Valts Circenis, Maria Porten, Miguel
Galperin, Georges Aperghis, Shintaro Imai and both UMS
and JIP have been performed, premiered and
recorded. Finally, many thanks to our main
supporters in Switzerland: Kulturrat des Kantons Wallis, Pro
Helvetia (Swiss Art Council) as well as to our 2020 hosting
structures: Musica, Concertgebouw Brugge, Theatre
Dunois, ISCM, Forum Wallis, Unternehmen Mitte Basel,
Kunstraum Walcheturm, Zeughaus Kultur Brig, ONO Bern.
2019 - 84 events, 37 world premieres, prestigious guest
appearances at the Venice Biennale Musica, at the Tongyeong
Festival in Korea, at the Palacio de Bellas Artes Mexico
City and at Ex Teresa Arte Actual coming back to Mexico for
the 41st FIMNNME, further, collaborations with Taller
Sonoro, zafraan Berlin and CEPROmusic ensamble within the
Integrations project, and our long-awaited new electropop
opera Sancho based on Cervantes' famous Don Quixote, this is
a brief resumé of an intensive 2019! We started our year at the Theater Rigiblick within the
Musikpodium der Stadt Zürich concert series. We continued
the 'Integrations' Project (http://integrations.umsnjip.ch)
with Taller Sonoro in Sevilla, followed by zafraan Ensemble,
Fabian Panisello, Marcel Papaux, Julian Sartorius, Manuel
Mengis and Hans-Peter Pfammatter for the Swiss concert
series, and with the Mexican CEPROmusic ensamble under Jose
Luis Castillo at the Auditorio MUAC in CDMX. Besides our 3 regular Swiss concert series
(Latinoamerica Project http://umsnjip.ch/program-latinoamerica2019.htm,
80 years Maria Porten http://umsnjip.ch/program-mariaporten2019.htm,
Liederabend http://umsnjip.ch/program-liederabend2019.htm)
and our new electropop opera Sancho staged by Wolfgang
Beuschel (http://umsnjip.ch/program-sanchopanza.htm),
we had guest appeareances in Mexico City (41. Foro
Internacional de Musica Nueva Manuel Enriquez FIMNME,
Festival Colores de la Voz, MUAC, Ex Teresa Arte Actual,
Palacio de Bellas Artes), Cuernavaca (Encuentros Revueltas
Sonoras), Phoenix (ASU. Herberger Institute), Denton (UNT,
MEIT), Sevilla (Espacio Turina), Korea (TIMF) and Geneva
(CPMDT) - check all the tour pics and
press releases at http://umsnjip.ch/photos-concerttours.htm
and http://umsnjip.ch/press2019.htm.
In 2019, UMS 'n JIP have been present both as composers and
performers in Mexico, USA, Korea, Spain, Germany and
Switzerland. >10'000
people attended the concerts UMS 'n JIP have been involved
in. Again, more than half a million hits have been
registered on social media, and we have >60'000 views on
our YouTube channels. UMS 'n JIP's
works have been performed and/or released by Arte Quartet,
Ensemble Aventure, Taller Sonoro, zafraan Berlin, CEPROmusic
ensamble, Andres Guadarrama, Alonso Izquierdo and by both
the professors and students of CPMDT Geneva. Educational activities have been held in Mexico
(CIEM, CCMA), Spain (Conservatorio Superior Manuel de Falla
Sevilla), Korea (SNU, TIMF), Italy (CIMM), USA (ASU, UNT)
and Switzerland (Forum Wallis, CPMDT Geneva http://umsnjip.ch/program-kokoanyfeo-resonances-sacncac.htm). Works by composers John Cage, Kotoka Suzuki,
Shintaro Imai, Motoharu Kawashima, Simone Conforti,
Christophe Schiess, Denis Schuler, Max E. Keller, Juan
Manuel Martinez, Beat Gysin, Maria Porten, Markus Hofer,
Luis Codera Puzo, Mathias Steinauer, Mateu Malondra Flaquer,
Reuben de Lautour, Caspar Johannes Walter, Mehmet Ali
Uzunselvi, Luciano Berio, Mauricio Kagel, Georges Aperghis,
Dieter Schnebel, Ermir Bejo, Zach Thomas, Paul Clift,
William Dougherty, Stefano Gervasoni, Federico Costanza,
Marcelo Delgado, Erik Oña, Phoebus Lee, Devin Arne, Bill Clay, Jacob
Smith, Raphael Belfiore, Sara
Flores Montes, Varoujan Cheterian,
Catherine Dreher, Andrés Guadarrama, Angel Lemus, Bernardo Loza, Eduardo Corona, Elena Sánchez, Jorge Delgado, Du Yun, Franco Pellini, Sandra
Gonzalez, Tania Rubio, Rodolfo Acosta, Leonardo Idrobo,
Luis David Guerrero, Mariana Villanueva, Andrea Cotti, Ivan Fedele,
Sungji Hong, Michel Soto, Bihe Wen, Anton Svetlichny, Thorsten Töpp, Kurt
Schwitters, Nathalie Gutierrez, Raúl Alfredo, Haris
Kittos, Guo Wenjing, Adam Roberts and both UMS and JIP have
been performed, premiered and recorded. Finally, many thanks to our main supporters in
Switzerland: Kulturrat des Kantons Wallis, Pro Helvetia
(Swiss Art Council), kulturelles.bl, Canton and City of
Berne, EGS, Fondation Nicati, Temperatio Foundation, Stadt
Zürich Kultur and Loterie Romande, as well as to our 2019
hosting structures: FIMNME, CCMA, CCMC, ISCM, Forum Wallis,
TIMF, SNU, Musikpodium der Stadt Zürich, Biennale Venezia,
INBA, ASU, UNT, Encuentros Sonoros Sevilla, Unternehmen
Mitte Basel, Kunstraum Walcheturm, Zeughaus Kultur Brig, ONO
Bern.
2018 - 85 events and a very special and surely one of the
most impressive musical experiences we shared so far: 'La
Noche de la Bestia‘ (Einer en las Villas), a participative
contemporary opera project with kids from the slums of
Buenos Aires (Barrios Informales), together with Pablo
Maritano and Teresa Floriach. The opera was given at Teatro
5 de Mayo within the Festival Nueva Opera de Buenos Aires
FNOBA 2018 in collaboration with Centro de Experimentacion
del Teatro Colon, Instituto de la Vivienda de la Ciudad de
Buenos Aires, Corporacion Buenos Aires Sur, Arte en Barrios
Buenos Aires, Jovenes X el Cambio, Elpidio Ceballos, Ignacio
Llobera, Miguel Galperin and many more - one year of street
work, workshops and a demanding 6-week rehearsal period with
a deeply touching and unforgettable result:
http://umsnjip.ch/program-einer-en-las-villas.htm. Further, we continued the 'Integrations' Project
(http://integrations.umsnjip.ch) with dissonArt Ensemble and
Taller Sonoro in Thessaloniki, Sevilla and Switzerland,
summing up Wolfgang Mitterer, Manuel Mengis, Yannick Barman
and Hans-Peter Pfammatter for the Swiss concert series. And - besides our 4 regular Swiss concert series
and a special program dedicated to the Catalonia question
(http://umsnjip.ch/program-cataloniaincontext.htm), we had
guest appeareances in Mexico City (40. Foro Internacional de
Musica Nueva Manuel Enriquez FIMNME), Morelia (CMMAS),
Bogota (CCMC), Cordoba (CePia, UNC, UPC), London (London Ear
Festival), Weimar (Weimarer Frühjahrstage für
Zeitgenössische Musik), Palma de Mallorca (ME_MMIX), Basel
(at the exquisite Museum Jean Tinguely) and Geneva (CPMDT). In 2018, UMS 'n JIP have been present both as
composers and performers in Argentina, Mexico, Colombia, UK,
Spain, Germany, Greece, Sweden and Switzerland. In April 2018, UMS 'n JIP breaks through the
1000-CONCERTS mark. >20'000
people attended the concerts UMS 'n JIP have been involved
in, more than half a million hits have been registered on
social media, and we have far beyond 50'000 views on our
YouTube channel! UMS 'n JIP's works
have been performed and/or released by Arte Quartet,
Ensemble Aventure, Taller Sonoro and dissonArt, Manuel
Mengis, Hans-Peter Pfammatter, Yannick Barman, by the
students of both UNC and UPC Cordoba and - last but not
least - by the wonderful kids of Villa Lugano in Buenos
Aires Argentina. Educational
activities have been held in Argentina (Escuela de Invierno
FNOBA, Fundacion Williams, UNC, UPC), Mexico (UNAM, CMMAS,
ENES), Bogota (UDC), Spain (Es Baluard, Conservatorio
Cristobal de Morales, Conservatorio Superior Manuel de
Falla), UK (Goldsmith’s London), Germany (Franz Liszt
Akademie Weimar), Greece (AUTH) and Switzerland (Fiesch,
Forum Wallis, CPMDT Geneva). Works by
composers John Cage, Joan Bagés Rubí, Kotoka Suzuki,
Shintaro Imai, Motoharu Kawashima, Keitaro Takahashi, Simone
Conforti, Christophe Schiess, Max E. Keller, Beat Gysin,
Maria Porten, Markus Hofer, Luis Codera Puzo, Mathias
Steinauer, Mateu Malondra Flaquer, Miguel Galperin,
Panayiotis Kokoras, Reuben de Lautour, Mehmet Ali Uzunselvi,
Luciano Berio, Mauricio Kagel, Georges Aperghis, Dieter
Schnebel, Jaime Oliver, Ermir Bejo, William Dougherty,
Stefano Gervasoni, Federico Costanza, Marcelo Delgado, Erik
Oña, Phoebus Lee, Murat Yakin, Idil Ataç, Maurilio
Cacciatore, Haris Kittos, Guo Wenjing, German Alonso,
Vladimir Gorlinsky, Adam Roberts and both UMS and JIP have
been performed, premiered and recorded. Finally, many thanks to our main supporters in
Switzerland: Kulturrat des Kantons Wallis, Pro Helvetia
(Swiss Art Council), kulturelles.bl, Canton and City of
Berne and Loterie Romande, as well as to our 2018 hosting
structures: Institut Ramon Llull, Placa Base Mallorca,
London Ear Festival, Weimarer Frühjahrstage für
Zeitgenössische Musik, FIMNME, CMMAS, CCMC, ENES, UNAM, UPC,
UNC, CePIA, BMMF, ASAB, ISCM, Forum Wallis, AUTH, CETC,
FNOBA, IVC BsAs, Corporacion Buenos Aires Sur, Jovenes X el
Cambio, Fundacion Williams, UNSAM, Unternehmen Mitte Basel,
Kunstraum Walcheturm, Zeughaus Kultur Brig, ONO Bern.
2017 - 129 events with prestigious concerts, CD releases, radio recordings, composition prizes and a large number of new commissioned works: 'Einer en las Villas' (participative contemporary opera in the slums of Buenos Aires with Pablo Maritano and Teresa Floriach in collaboration with Centro de Experimentacion del Teatro Colon, Instituto de la Vivienda de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires, Arte en Barrios Buenos Aires), 'Integrations' with dissonArt ensemble Thessaloniki and Taller Sonoro Sevilla, 'So nicely brightly' with the ensemble für neue musik zürich, the concert with the Korean ensemble Good Mori, the double CD 'wider-wege' by Max E. Keller, further the guest appeareances in Tokyo (Sonorium), New York (Llull Institute), Avignon (Avignon Festival), Barcelona (Gran Teatre del Liceu), Burgos (FAT), Palma de Mallorca (Pb Bits), Geneva (Archipel), and not to forget UMS' 1st prizes at the composition contests in Weimar (Weimarer Frühjahrstage für Zeitgenössische Musik) and Savona (Primavera Sacra Savona Int. Music Festival). UMS 'n JIP have been present both as composers and performers in Argentina, the USA, Japan, Spain, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Iran and Switzerland. Together with Pablo Maritano, Teresa Floriach, Manuel Mengis and Chaoming Tung, we celebrated our 10th anniversary in Binn, Brig and Basel, Switzerland in September. More than 20'000 people attended the concerts UMS 'n JIP have been involved in; >300'000 hits have been registered on social media, and we have almost 50'000 views on our YouTube channel! UMS 'n JIP's commissioned works have been performed and/or released by Ensemble Proton Bern, Ensemble Zone Expérimentale, Amneris Quartet, Ensemble Nuove Musiche, Orchestre de l'HEMU, Ensemble Inverspace, Infinity à 5, UmeDuo, Ensemble Via Nova, Taller Sonoro and dissonArt. Educational activities have been held in Argentina (Escuela de Invierno FNOBA, Argentinian National Radio, Fundacion Williams, Universidad Nacional de San Martin UNSAM), Spain (COAIB, ACA, Dialegs Musicals Gran Teatre del Liceu Barcelona) and Switzerland (Young Art Brig, Forum Wallis, Prix Giuseppe Englert). Works by composers John Cage, Joan Bagés Rubí, Kotoka Suzuki, Shintaro Imai, Takayuki Rai, Motoharu Kawashima, Chikashi Miyama, Keitaro Takahashi, Simone Conforti, Beat Furrer, Christophe Schiess, Max E. Keller, Denis Schuler, Daniel Fueter, Du Yun, Beat Gysin, Maria Porten, Markus Hofer, Luis Codera Puzo, Mathias Steinauer, Mateu Malondra Flaquer, Pierre Mariétan, Miguel Galperin, Sungji Hong, Panayiotis Kokoras, Reuben de Lautour, Mehmet Ali Uzunselvi, Leo Dick, Octavi Rumbau, Luciano Berio, Mauricio Kagel, Georges Aperghis, Dieter Schnebel, Isang Yun, Harry Partch, Jaime Oliver, Ermir Bejo, Zach Thomas, Cameron K Robello, Paul Clift, William Dougherty, Lucie Vítková, Bihe Wen, Chaz Underriner, Adam Roberts and both UMS and JIP have been performed, premiered and recorded. Many thanks to our main supporters: Kulturrat des Kantons Wallis, Pro Helvetia (Swiss Art Council), kulturelles.bl, Canton and City of Berne, Fondation Henneberger-Mercier, Loterie Romande, as well as to our hosting structures: HEMU, FAT Burgos, Gran Teatre del Liceu Barcelona, Institut Ramon Llull, Placa Base Mallorca, musica aperta, Musikpodium der Stadt Zürich, Festival Archipel, Theatre des Vents Avignon, Forum Wallis, Teatro Colon Buenos Aires, CETC, FNOBA, IVC BsAs, UNSAM, Druckereihalle im Ackermannshof Basel, Unternehmen Mitte Basel, Kunstraum Walcheturm, Zeughaus Kultur Brig, ONO Bern, EFA.
2016 - UMS 'n JIP has been involved in ... 127 events! Highlights have been, among others: Genealogias' premiere at the prestigious Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires (CETC/Centro de las Artes UNSAM, with Marcelo Delgado and Adriana Viñals within the Festival de Opera Nueva de Buenos Aires), the startup of 'Integrations' together with the Moscow Contemporary Music Ensemble in Russia and Switzerland, the guest appeareances in Nanning (China-ASEAN Music Days 2016), Taipei (Taipei Int. New Music Festival 2016 where John Cage's Lecture on Nothing has been performed for the first time ever), Avignon Festival (Theatre des Vents), and not to forget UMS' 1st Prize at the London Ear Festival's Composition Contest in London. We have been present in Russia, Austria, Spain, France, Germany, the USA, UK, China, Taiwan, Korea, the Netherlands, Greece, Argentina and of course in Switzerland, too. More than 20'000 people attended the concerts UMS 'n JIP have been involved in; >200'000 hits have been registered on social media, and >10'000 views on YouTube! UMS 'n JIP's commissioned works have been performed and/or released by Ensemble Phoenix, Ensemble Inverspace, UmeDuo, Männerstimmen Basel and Uroboros Ensemble London. Educational activities have been held in Argentina (Teatro Colon, O.M.N.I., Argentinian National Radio), USA (Arizona State University, University of North Texas, New York University, Columbia University, Georgia Tech Atlanta), Greece (AUTH), Taiwan (Taipei National University of the Arts, National Chiao Tung University, ISCM Taiwan), Korea (Tongyeong Festival, ISCM WMD), Utrecht (ICMC), Nanning (Guangxi University of the Arts), Switzerland (HEMU, Forum Wallis). Works by composers Deqing Wen, Du Yun, Huang Ruo, Guo Wenjing, Phoebus Lee, Keitaro Takahashi, Kotoka Suzuki, Luis Codera Puzo, Germán Alonso, Thorsten Töpp, Panayiotis Kokoras, Leontios Hadjileontiadis, Eleni Ralli, Antonis Rouvelas, Vladimir Gorlinsky, Elena Rykova, Anton Svetlichny, Reuben de Lautour, Adam Roberts, Mehmet Ali Uzunselvi, Mehmet Can Özer, Kurt Schwitters, Marcel Duchamp, John Cage, Georges Aperghis, Mauricio Kagel, Luciano Berio, Dieter Schnebel, Li-Wei Chao, Yen-Ning Chiu, Hannes Dufek, Nicolas Vérin, Giorgio Tedde, Junghae Lee, Daniel Fueter, Denis Schuler, Nadir Vassena, Markus Hofer, Max E. Keller, Beat Gysin, Mathias Steinauer, Maria Porten and both UMS and JIP have been performed, premiered and recorded. Many thanks to our main supporters: Kulturrat des Kantons Wallis, Pro Helvetia (Swiss Art Council), UBS Kulturstiftung, Fondation Nestlé pour l'Art, STV/ASM, SUISA Foundation as well as to our hosting structures: HEMU, ISCM Russia, MCME, ISCM Taiwan, Guangxi Arts University, TNUA, NCTU, AUTH, i-Treasures, Columbia University, NYU, UNT, ASU, Don't Panic Hamburg, Theatre des Vents Avignon, FORUM Wallis, Teatro Colon Buenos Aires, CETC, UNSAM, ISCM, ECPNM, Druckereihalle im Ackermannshof Basel, Kunstraum Walcheturm, Zeughaus Kultur Brig, ONO Bern, ISCM World Music Days Tongyeong 2016, EFA, Pantographe Moutier.
2015 has been an intense year full of highlights totalling 102 events, among others Stockhausen's Helikopterstreichquartett (Helicopter String Quartet) with Arditti, André Richard and Air Glaciers during Forum Wallis and 'Einer's' premiere at the prestigious Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires (CETC, with Pablo Maritano and Eugenio Szwarcer). We have been present in 18 countries, and for the first time in Argentina, Korea, Georgia, Egypt, Philippines, Hungary and Slovenia. More than 20'000 people attended 2015 the concerts UMS 'n JIP have been involved in (>8'000 for UMS 'n JIP as performers and another >12'000 for UMS 'n JIP as composers); >150'000 hits on social media, and >6000 views/year on YouTube only for UMS 'n JIP/Aperghis' récitations. UMS 'n JIP's commissioned works have been performed and/or released by Ensemble Phoenix, Jugendchor Zürich, UmeDuo, HEMU, Molto Cantabile and Männerstimmen Basel (who actually won the most important European male choir competition with JIP's 'Ad mortem festinamus' in their repertoire!). Educational activities have been held in Japan (Kunitachi), Cairo (American University), Korea (Hanyang/CREAMA), Latvia (JVLMA, Arena Festival, Rezekne), Greece (IEMA), Georgia (National Conservatoire), Bohol International Choir Festival and Competition, Ostrava (EFA), as well as for Kulturfunken Wallis. Works by composers Wen Deqing, Du Yun, Guo Wenjing, Phoebus Lee, Chikashi Miyama, Keitaro Takahashi, Kotoka Suzuki, Shintaro Imai, Shugo Tanaka, Kanokpak Changwitchukarn, Luis Codera Puzo, Germán Alonso, Thorsten Töpp, Panayiotis Kokoras, Michalis Lapidakis, Antonis Rouvelas, Dimitri Papageorgiou, Gundega Šmite, Jachin Pousson, Anton Svetlichny, Kyungmee Rhee, Isang Yun, Dongsun Han, Hyuna Kim, Reuben de Lautour, Idil Ataç, Erçin Kaya, Adam Roberts, Zeynep Gedizlioglu, Mehmet Ali Uzunselvi, Murat Yakin, Mehmet Can Özer, John Cage, Georges Aperghis, Mauricio Kagel, Luciano Berio, Dieter Schnebel, Morton Feldman, Markus Hofer, Max E. Keller, Beat Gysin, Mathias Steinauer, Maria Porten and both UMS and JIP have been performed, premiered and recorded. Many thanks to our main supporters: Kulturrat des Kantons Wallis, Pro Helvetia (Swiss Art Council), Ernst Göhner Stiftung, UBS Kulturstiftung, Fondation Nestlé pour l'Art, STV/ASM, SUISA Foundation as well as to our hosting structures: HEMU, Jazeps Vitols Latvian Music Academy, Music Village, Onassis Cultural Centre, European Egyptian Contemporary Music Society, FORUM Wallis, IEMA Athens, ISCM, ECPNM, Kunitachi College of Music, Musikhochschule Basel, Druckereihalle im Ackermannshof Basel, Kunstraum Walcheturm, Zeughaus Kultur Brig, New Music Festival ARENA, ISCM World Music Days Ljubljana 2015, EFA, BICFC, Pantographe Moutier.
2014. More than 600 concerts and 140 world premieres since 2007! Concert tours in Latvia (both in Feb/Nov at JVLMA and Arena Festival including recordings for Latvian Radio), Sweden (both in April/November among others at Sound of Stockholm Festival), Spain (in May/June/July/November at ME_MMIX, Sirga, Mallorca Summer Academy, Projecte Rafel, Encuentros Sonoros), Japan (in May/September at Kunitachi), USA (March), France (Avignon, Mulhouse, Paris, Reims with recordings for France Musique/Radio France), Greece (in August/September at Music Village and ICMC Athens), UMS 'n JIP were supported by the Spanish Government through Accion Cultural Espanola (AC/E) for their powerful international promotion of contemporary Spanish music (>50 concerts in 9 countries since 4/2013). CD release together with Ensemble Modern, Ensemble Recherche and CrossingLines Ensemble for col legno featuring works by Luis Codera Puzo funded by Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung. JIP elected jury member of the ISCM Young Composers Award at the ISCM World Music Days Wroclaw 2014. Both UMS 'n JIP are commissioned new works performed by Ensemble Phoenix Basel (Projekt Trabant), UmeDuo (Sweden) and Männerstimmen Basel. JIP's distorted folksong arrangements performed at European Youth Choir Festival Basel EJCF. And, of course, regular concert tours in Switzerland (Basel, Zürich, Valais, Bern).
2013: 123 performances all around the world - UMS 'n JIP is now by far the most active Swiss contemporary music ensemble and ranks among the most active ensembles worldwide. Concert tours in Spain (Mixtur Barcelona, ME_MMIX Palma), France (Reine Blanche Paris, IRCAM, Avignon Festival), Germany (Randspiele Berlin, Solitude Stuttgart, ZKM, LMU München), Greece (Thessaloniki State Orchestra Concert Hall), Turkey (ITU MIAM, Babylon Istanbul), Lithuania (ICT Vilnius) and Switzerland totalling 30 world premieres! 2 CD releases in Switzerland featuring works by both UMS and JIP, commissions for both UMS and JIP premiered by dissonArt ensemble (Dimitria Festival), Basler Madrigalisten (Stadt Casino Basel), Paul Taylor Orchestra (Tonhalle Zürich), Ensemble Phoenix and InverSpace (Russian Composer's Union Moscow), two international research projects (Recorder Map and i-Treasures) and finally JIP's Prix Culturel de l'Etat du Valais 2013 as well as his election as ISCM Switzerland's new president.
2012: A total of 136 performances all around the world - a breathtaking amount and probably a world record! Concert tours in Australia (Adelaide), Mongolia (Roaring Hooves), Russia (Rostov/Taganrog), France (Avignon Festival), Greece (Thessaloniki), Latvia (UMS 'n JIP is the first foreigner ensemble to be invited to Latvian New Music Days) presenting contemporary classics by Cage, Berio, Kagel, Aperghis as well as premieres by Chinese, Russian, Latvian, Arab and Swiss composers, two successfully premiered chamber operas collaborating with stage directors Gian Manuel Rau (Einer) and Wolfgang Beuschel FIVE (Grimm's Tales), composition awards at MATA Festival New York and European Youth Choir Festival Basel. Nov 23-Dec 2: '5 years UMS 'n JIP' in Basel and Brig celebrating five extraordinary years with more than 400 concerts and 94 world premieres worldwide.
2011. Switzerland tour with Esperanto Electropop Opera "THREE", "The Russia Project" in December in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Rostov), an Avignon Festival residence (July 2011), UMS 'n JIP's fourth chamber opera FOUR (The Creation) with a Switzerland and France tour, invitations from Forum Neue Musik Luzern, (ONE in Feb 2011), Contemporary Music Festival Oggi Musica (TWO in Oct 2011), as well as world premieres by Swiss composers Max E. Keller, Pierre-André Bovey, Markus Hofer, Maria Porten (collaborating with Carmina Quartet and Gian Manuel Rau), all of them recorded by Swiss Radio DRS2, in February 2011 UMS 'n JIP premiered Painted Skin, a mini opera by New York based Chinese composer Huang Ruo. UMS's works won prizes at Musikfestival Bern and Music Village Mount Pelion Greece where they were premiered by conductors Beat Furrer and Mark Foster. UMS 'n JIP won the renowned MusiquePro grant 2011-13 and were coached by Irvine Arditti. Further collaborations with South African composer Pierre-Henri Wicomb and Alain Michon (France).
2010. UMS 'n JIP tour in Switzerland (spring), in the USA (NYC) and East Asia (both in autumn). Premieres by Maria Porten collaborating with Paul W. Taylor and Werner Bärtschi were scheduled for spring and winter 2010. Tonhalle Zürich debut in March. In July, UMS 'n JIP return to Avignon (Palais Royal) with 3 different programs: China Project, Swiss Project and with the electropop opera TWO. In September 2010 UMS 'n JIP premiere their third scenical program "3 (THREE, Esperanto Electropop Opera)" in Sierre, Sion and Brig. In 2010 UMS 'n JIP offer commissions to Guo Wenjing, Chen Yeungping, Liu Jian, Tam Chin Fai, Phoebus Lee, Roland Dahinden and Maria Porten.
2009. The duo's "China Project" with commissions for Chinese composers Du Yun, Tao Yu, Deqing Wen, Huang Ruo as well as with Yulong Mao´s famous traditional Chinese Music trio went on tour in both Switzerland and China (Shanghai New Music Days) from January-October 2009. "1 (ONE)" was invited to the Festival d'Avignon, France, Théâtre Gilgamesh, where it was performed daily from 8-31.7. 2009. At the Fête Suisse des Musiciens in Lausanne, UMS 'n JIP premiere "Mora-Mori" by female Korean composer Junghae Lee (9/09). Its second chamber opera "2 (TWO)" compiling electropop works by both UMS and JIP was premiered at Theatre Interface in Sion and Zeughaus Kultur Brig in December 2009.
2008. For the Swiss dance company Interface, UMS 'n JIP participated in the soundtrack to "La Légende Dorée" – a ballet taken on tour worldwide from 2008-11 (3/08). Collaborating with Swiss Radio UMS 'n JIP recorded "lebelight" by Swiss female composer Maria Porten for the Swiss label VDE-Gallo - "Es war einst ein Paradies" (6/08). At the Theatre Interface in Sion UMS 'n JIP's first full scenical program "1 (ONE)" with pieces by Thorsten Töpp and Maria Porten and UMS and JIP themselves as composers was successfully premiered (10/08).
2007. UMS 'n JIP's startup was "riviu 99.7", compiling pieces by Cage, Lehmann, Kagel, Schnebel and Aperghis at "schauwerk-blackbox", part of the Schweizer Tonkünstlerfest 2007 in Theaterhaus Gessnerallee Zürich (7/07). During the innovative festival Forum Valais four world premieres by Beat Gysin, Andreas Zurbriggen and UMS 'n JIP were been recorded by Radio Suisse Romande Espace 2 and been highly acclaimed by various Swiss musical chroniclers (9/07). With the world famous Japanese actor and poet Ron Obe UMS 'n JIP premiered 4 works by Maria Porten in Zürich and Basel (Ferne Schritte.Nähe, 9/07).
CETC Buenos Aires 2015, photo: Alejandro Held
ONE (electropop opera)
CETC Buenos Aires 2015, photo: Teatro Colon
ME_MMIX Palma 2013, photo: Martin Ramis
ME_MMIX Palma 2013, photo: Martin Ramis
Walcheturm Zürich 2015, photo: Lorenzo Pusterla
Saynshand, Gobi Desert, Mongolia
