Ensemble Modern

Ensemble Modern is a vigorous advocate for music of our times: courageous, uncompromising, energetic. An essential, aesthetically polyglot amplifier for trend-setting sound concepts.

It is one of the leading current music formations in the world. Founded in 1980 and at home in Frankfurt am Main, 18 soloists currently determine the activities of this democratically organized ensemble. The musicians from Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, India, Japan, Switzerland and the USA jointly decide on artistic projects, partnerships with other artists and all financial matters. Its aesthetic spectrum includes musical theatre works, dance and multimedia projects, chamber music, ensemble and orchestral concerts.

In its hometown, Ensemble Modern has its own subscription series at the Alte Oper Frankfurt. It regularly produces musical theatre works in cooperation with the Frankfurt Opera, as well as a legendary series of workshop concerts entitled ›Happy New Ears‹, which began in 1993 and has taken place in cooperation with the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts (HfMDK) since 2019. Together with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble Modern has been presenting the festival ›cresc… Biennial for Current Modern Music Frankfurt Rhine Main‹ since 2011. Furthermore, it’s one of the partner institutions of the Frankfurt LAB, a space for artistic experimentation and interdisciplinary exchange. In 2025, Ensemble Modern joined the International Ensemble Modern Academy and the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie in initiating the project ›Sound Port Frankfurt 2030 – Centre for Music and Experimentation‹. At their shared premises, the three institutions are pooling their competencies, energy and experience to create an innovative space for music.

Every year, Ensemble Modern rehearses and performs approximately 70 new compositions, including about 20 world premieres, some of which it commissions itself. The ensemble strives to achieve the highest possible degree of authenticity by working closely with the composers themselves. Ensemble Modern’s concept and goal is to achieve the highest possible precision in implementing a composer’s ideas. Its work is characterised by extraordinary and often long-term cooperative ventures with renowned artists, such as John Adams, Mark Andre, George Benjamin, Unsuk Chin, Peter Eötvös, Brian Ferneyhough, Heiner Goebbels, Hans Werner Henze, Heinz Holliger, Mauricio Kagel, György Kurtág, Helmut Lachenmann, György Ligeti, Cathy Milliken, Brigitta Muntendorf, Olga Neuwirth, Enno Poppe, Steve Reich, Wolfgang Rihm, Rebecca Saunders, Iris ter Schiphorst, Simon Steen-Andersen, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Mark-Anthony Turnage, Frank Zappa, Hans Zender or Vito Žuraj, as well as outstanding artist personalities from other artistic genres. Among its commissions, there are also large-scale compositions written for the Ensemble Modern Orchestra, for which the ensemble expands to orchestral dimensions. The Ensemble Modern Orchestra was founded in 1998 as the first orchestra in the world dedicated exclusively to contemporary music.

In 2003 Ensemble Modern founded the International Ensemble Modern Academy (IEMA), bundling its existing education and further education projects under one roof. Its goal is to convey the numerous artistic movements of our times as well as an open, creative manner of dealing with artistic processes. Since its founding, IEMA has developed customized formats for various target groups: these include the Master’s Degree Programme ›Contemporary Music Performance‹ for young professional musicians in cooperation with the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts (HfMDK) as well as the International Composer & Conductor Seminars (ICCS) and education projects for children and teenagers.

In 2024, Ensemble Modern was awarded with the Silver Lion of the Biennale Musica di Venezia. The diverse, self-administered work of Ensemble Modern never stops questioning musical and concert conventions. Its members are indefatigable in their search for expressive, artistic sonic positions of our times, delivering authentic performances of these positions.

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