Chronicle

1980

Founded by the musicians themselves as an ensemble specialized on music of the 20th century
First concert for Deutschlandfunk Cologne (and subsequently for Hessischer Rundfunk Frankfurt) with Arnold Schoenberg's Chamber Symphony No. 1 op. 9, Anton Webern's Symphony op. 21, Friedrich Goldmann's ›Konzert für Posaune und 3 Instrumentalgruppen‹, and Mathias Spahlinger's ›Phonophobie‹ for wind / brass quintet
The ensemble holds 21 musicians, organisation: Karsten Witt

1981

Second concert for Deutschlandfunk Cologne with works by Karel Goeyvaerts, Alfred Schnittke, Frederic Rzewski and Karlheinz Stockhausen
Third concert for Deutschlandfunk Cologne with Wolfgang Rihm's third string quartet ›Im Innersten‹ and works by Svend Nielsen, Reiner Bredemeyer, and Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen

1982

Concert at the Sender Freies Berlin studio with music by Edgard Varèse, Isang Yun, Sylvano Bussotti, and György Ligeti
Concert at the Frankfurt Feste festival with works by Charles Ives, Edgard Varèse, Gustav Mahler, Anton Webern and Arnold Schoenberg under the direction of Jacques Mercier
›Music of the fifties‹: two concerts at Frankfurt Feste with compositions by Bruno Maderna, Luigi Nono, Luciano Berio, Igor Stravinsky, Hans Werner Henze, John Cage and Karlheinz Stockhausen
Concerts at the 7th International Compositions Seminar of the Künstlerhaus Boswil foundation

1983

First Ensemble Modern concert conducted by Peter Eötvös taking place in Paris with works by Anton Webern, Arnold Schoenberg und Karlheinz Stockhausen, Nicolaus A. Huber, Yann Diederichs (premiere) and Friedrich Goldmann (premiere)
Together with Junge Deutsche Philharmonie and within the context of the project ›Opus Anton Webern‹: performances of works by Anton Webern in Frankfurt a.M. (Frankfurt Feste), Berlin, (Berliner Festwochen), Cologne, Witten, Bonn, Ghent and Brussels (Flandern Festival)
Concerts with works by Nicolaus A. Huber at Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik
Hungarian-German concerts at Deutschlandfunk Cologne and at the Academy of Music in Budapest conducted by Peter Eötvös with works by Lásló Vidovsky, Zoltán Jeney, Friedrich Schenker, Nicolaus A. Huber, and Karlheinz Stockhausen i.a.
Concerts at the Donaueschinger Musiktage (Donaueschingen Festival) with premieres of Robert HP Platz, and Hans-Jürgen Bose conducted by Peter Eötvös

1984

Olivier Messiaen's ›Quatuor pour la fin du temps‹ at Tage der Neuen Musik in Hannover
Performance of music for films at the Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik, e.g.: ›Le ballet mécanique‹ by Fernand Lèger and Dudley Murphy with music by George Antheil, ›Un chien Andalou‹ with music by Wolfgang Rihm
Tour through ten university cities with works by Edgard Varèse and Mauricio Kagel
The ensemble performs at the Stuttgarter Tage für Neue Musik with works by Iannis Xenakis, Paul Hindemith, and Arnold Schoenberg
Premiere of Aribert Reimann's concert opera ›Gespenstersonate‹ at Berliner Festwochen
First tour through South America: concerts and seminars with Helmut Lachenmann in Argentina, Mexico, Uruguay and Chile
Concert at the Experimentierfeld Frauen Musik festival in Cologne with music by Adriana Hölzky, Leni Alexander, and Younghi Pagh-Paan

1985

The ensemble launches its own subscription series at Alte Oper in Frankfurt a.M.
The ensemble chooses Frankfurt a.M. as its domicile; the city of Frankfurt provides office and rehearsal space at Schirn Kunsthalle.
Concert with works by Helmut Lachenmann at the Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik
The ensemble tours several university towns together with Antony Pay and Sigune von Osten playing music by John Cage, Manfred Trojahn, Heinz Holliger, Harrison Birtwistle, and Hans-Werner Henze
The ensemble participates at the Montepulciano festival Cantiere internazionale d'arte performing Hans-Werner Henze's ›Voices‹
Premiere of Wolfgang Rihm's ›Andere Schatten‹ at Frankfurt Feste (conductor: Ernest Bour)
Opening the Berliner Festwochen with Anton Webern's ›Ricercar a 6 voci‹, Arnold Schoenberg's ›Chambersymphony‹ and the premiere of Peter Ruzicka's ›... der die Gesänge zerschlug‹ conducted by Ernest Bour

1986

Opening concert of Schirn Kunsthalle with Stravinsky's ›Histoire du Soldat‹ and Arnold Schoenberg's ›Pierrot Lunaire‹
Gala concert for the 65th anniversary of the international writers' association P.E.N. in Hamburg: works by Igor Stravinsky, Isang Yun (premiere), and Bernd A. conducted by Hans Zender
Performance of works by Helmut Lachenmann, Robert HP Platz, and Brian Ferneyhough at the International Summer Course for New Music Darmstadt
Celebrating Hans Werner Henze's 60th birthday at the Alte Oper in Frankfurt a.M. with Henze's ›Konzertstück für Cello‹ (premiere), ›An eine Äolsharfe‹ (premiere), ›El Cimarrón‹, and ›Voices‹
The ensemble plays Russian music under the direction of Peter Eötvös at the Berliner Festwochen e.g. works by Edison Denissov, Dmitri Smirnow, Rodion Schtschedrin
Guest performance at ›Warschauer Herbst‹ with Heinz Holliger and Hans Zender
Two concerts at Donaueschingen Festival under the direction of Ernest Bour with works by Emmanuel Nunes and Johannes Kalitzke
The ensemble performs Olivier Messiaen's ›Quatuor pour la fin du temps‹ at the German-French culture summit in Frankfurt a.M.

1987

German premiere of ›Chinese Opera‹ by Peter Eötvös at Alte Oper Frankfurt a.M.
Ingo Metzmacher conducts the ensembles' appearance at Musik-Biennale in East-Berlin with music by Wolfgang Rihm, Helmut Lachenmann, and Friedrich Goldmann i.a.
The ensemble and Ernest Bour perform in Cologne, Rome, Lisbon, and Frankfurt a.M. with works by Emanuel Nunes, Giacinto Scelsi, and Bruno Maderna
Concerts following the theme ›music in exile‹ with compositions by Hanns Eisler, and Kurt Weill i.a. in Frankfurt a.M. and at the Berliner Festwochen
The ensemble launches a new subscription series in the chamber music hall of Berliner Philharmonie
Regular concerts in Cologne, Paris, London
First production with enlarged ensemble: Luigi Nono's ›Prometeo‹ in Frankfurt a.M., Berlin, and Paris, conducted by David Shallhon and Friedrich Goldmann
Performance of Beethoven's Violin Concerto with Thomas Zehetmair and ›Wandlungen‹ by Emmanuel Nunes at the Weltmusiktage in Frankfurt a.M. conducted by Ernest Bour and Ingo Metzmacher
The ensemble tours Vienna, Munich, Cologne, London, Oxford, Cardiff, Liverpool, Durham, and Cambridge with Mauricio Kagel (and) ›Kantrimiusik‹, ›Finale‹, and ›Pas de cinq‹
Ensemble Modern is funded by ›Deutscher Musikrat‹
The ensemble re-organizes itself as a GbR – Gesellschaft bürgerlichen Rechts (a partnership under the German Civil Code)

1988

Heinz Holliger receives the Frankfurter Musikpreis endowed with 25,000 Deutsche Mark and forwards his reward to Ensemble Modern, who is at that point struggling with financial difficulties
Dance theatres ›Red Run‹ by Amanda Miller with music by Heiner Goebbels and ›Choros‹ by Rhys Martin with music by Elena Kats-Chernin are being premiered at Jahrhunderthalle Höchst in Frankfurt a.M.
Performance of the opera ›Stallerhof‹ based on a play by Franz Xaver Kroetz, (composition by Gerd Kühr) at the first Munich Biennale and in Wiesbaden
Mark Antony Turnage's opera ›Greek‹ an HK Gruber's ›Frankenstein!!!‹ are being staged at the Munich Biennale
Initiation of ›Response‹ a practical school-project that tries to make contemporary music more accessible for young people, first season in Berlin in collaboration with London Sinfonietta
Premiere of Ernst Krenek's ›Symeon der Stylik‹ at ›Salzburger Festspiele‹ under the direction of Lothar Zagrosek
Portrait concerts of György Ligeti and György Kurtág at ›Berliner Festwochen‹
Concerts with Steve Reich (›Different Trains‹, ›Eight Lines‹, ›Sextet‹, ›Four Organs‹ i.a.) in Frankfurt a.M., Berlin, Bolzano and Cologne
Concerts within the theme of ›music and machine‹ at Kölner Philharmonie, with works by Conlon Nancarrow, transcribed by Ivar Mikashoff
Gesellschaft für Neue Musik (contemporary music society) and Ensemble Modern host an international composers workshop in Blonay: Ten composers write pieces to be performed by Ensemble Modern, the ensemble studies their works, offers support to the composers during development and realization and performs the completed compositions; lecturers are Helmut Lachenmann, Ingo Metzmacher, and Hans Zender

1989

Charlie Chaplin's 100th birthday at Alte Oper Frankfurt a.M.: Premiere of Benedict Mason's music for the films ›Easy Street‹, ›The Emigrant‹, ›The Adventurer‹ (commissioned by Ensemble Modern)
Premiere of Manfred Trojahn's song-cycle ›Lieder auf der Flucht‹ with Kurt Widmer (baritone) based on texts by Ingeborg Bachmann at Frankfurt Feste
Premieres of works by Heiner Goebbels, Isang Yun and Rolf Riehm at Frankfurt Feste on the occasion of the 200th commemoration of the French Revolution
At the Parisian Festival d' Automne the ensemble performs ›The Country That Gave The Freedom Symbol To America‹ together with jazz musician Ornette Coleman (free jazz pioneer) and ›Composition 147‹ in collaboration with composer Anthony Braxton
Initiation of a new subscription series at Vienna Konzerthaus
Hommage to György Kurtág at the Römerbad-Musiktage in Badenweiler

1990

Tour through Russia (14 concerts) with works by Mauricio Kagel, Igor Stravinsky, Heiner Goebbels, Nicolaus A. Huber, Rolf Riehm, Wolfgang Rihm, György Ligeti, and Helmut Lachenmann conducted by Mauricio Kagel and Lothar Zagrosek in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Nowosibirsk, and Barnaul i.a.
World premiere of Hans-Jürgen von Bose's opera ›63: Dream Palace‹ at the second Munich Biennale
Ernst Krenek's 90th birthday: concert at Salzburger Festspiele
World premiere of Dieter Schnebel's ›Urteil‹ at Berliner Festwochen
›Response 90‹: Response project in collaboration with London Sinfonietta and fifteen schools in Frankfurt a.M., concerts at ›Frankfurt Feste‹
Several concerts at Steirischer Herbst in Graz under the direction of Hans Zender and Peter Eötvös with works by Charles Ives, Iannis Xenakis and György Kurtág
Celebratory concert for the ensemble's 10th anniversary at Alte Oper including the premiere of György Kurtág's ›Opus 27 Nr. 2‹ in collaboration with Ensemble Intercontemporain (France)
Andreas Möhlich-Zebhauser becomes the ensemble's new managing director, replacing Karsten Witt
The ensemble relocates and moves to its new premises in Frankfurt a.M.: the ›Fabrik‹ (factory) at Schwedlerstraße 2-4

1991

Concert with works by American composers at Ars musica in Brussels
Manfred Trojahn's ›Lieder auf der Flucht‹ at Schwetzinger Festspiele
Concert with Hans Werner Henze at Villa Massimo (Rome) performing ›Kammermusik 1958‹ and ›Le Miracle de la Rose‹
Visiting Frank Zappa in Los Angeles in order to develop a new composition for the 1992 Frankfurt Feste
Premiere of ›Rara-Requiem‹ by Sylvano Bussotti at Frankfurt Feste
Music by Russian composers (Vladimir Tarnopolski, Viktor Ekimowski, Faradach Karajew) being premiered at Frankfurt Feste
Concert at Donaueschinger Musiktage, conducted by Mauricio Kagel and Arturo Tamayo

1992

Concerts for the 60th birthday of Mauricio Kagel in Cologne, Gütersloh and Berlin
›Red Run‹ and ›Herakles 2‹ by Heiner Goebbels at taktlos-Festival in Zurich
Second South American tour with Arturo Tamayo. Concerts in Buenos Aires and Santiago de Chile
CD production with Conlon Nancarrow (transcriptions: Ivar Mikhashoff)
Production of the ›The Yellow Shark‹ with Frank Zappa and Lalala Human Steps (Dance); eight concerts in Frankfurt a.M., Berlin and Vienna; TV production
Maurico Kagel's, ›Mare Nostrum‹ in Frankfurt a.M., Cologne and Hamburg conducted by Mauricio Kagel himself
Karlheinz Stockhausen project including seven concerts at Frankfurt Feste, with ›Zeitmaße‹, ›Kontra-Punkte, ›Stop‹, ›Ylem‹, ›Adieu‹, and ›Der Jahreslauf‹ i.a.
John Cage concerts: ›Number Pieces‹, ›Concert for Piano and Orchestra‹, and ›Concerto for Prepared Piano‹ at Frankfurt Feste
Premiere of Helmut Lachenmann's ›Zwei Gefühle...‹ conducted by Peter Eötvös
Premiere of Alfred Schnittke's music for the reconstructed silent film ›The End of St. Petersburg‹ by Wsewolod Pudowkin at Alte Oper in Frankfurt a.M.

1993

World premiere of Henze's ›Requiem‹ in Cologne, followed by concerts in Vienna, Frankfurt a. M., Berlin, Munich, Firenze, Venice and Salzburg
World premiere of Manfred Trojahn's ›... une campagne noire de soleil‹ at Kölner Philharmonie
Concerts under the direction of John Adams in Frankfurt a.M., Berlin and Vienna
CD production of works by Edgar Varèse together with Frank Zappa in Los Angeles
Launch of the second subscription series ›Happy New Ears‹ at the Frankfurt Opera
Luigi Nono's ›Prometeo‹ at Salzburger Festspiele
Hans Zender’s ›Winterreise‹ premiered at Frankfurt Feste

1994

Portrait concerts of Stravinsky and Stockhausen at the Salzburger Festspiele under the direction of Hans Zender.
Jazz program in Frankfurt a.M., Berlin, and Vienna with music by Gershwin, Antheil, and Bernstein i.a.
›Alte Neue Musik‹ (old new music): Ensemble Modern and Freiburger Barockorchester playing Claudio Monteverdi and Luigi Nono at Frankfurt Feste
Starting a Varèse cycle in European metropolises
World premiere of Bill Viola's film to ›Déserts‹ by Edgard Varèse with live-music, followed by performances all over Europe
Second Russian tour to Moscow and St. Petersburg with works by Olivier Messiaen, Anton Webern and Alban Berg

1995

Eastern European tour (to Budapest, Prague, and Zagreb i.a.) and third tour through Russia conducted by Friedrich Goldmann und Jonathan Nott
Six concerts at Salzburger Festspiele
First concert at the London BBC-Proms at the Wiener Musikverein and the Concertgebouw Amsterdam
Kurt Weill's ›Die Dreigroschenoper‹ conducted by HK Gruber performed at Schauspiel Frankfurt about thirty times
Pascal Dusapin's chamber opera ›To Be Sung‹ is being staged in Munich, Frankfurt a.M., and Berlin.
Tour with works by Steve Reich to Cologne, Berlin, Frankfurt a.M., and Vienna i.a.
Continuation of the Varèse cycle in Karlsruhe, Munich, Dresden
Two concerts with Hans Werner Henze's ›Requiem‹ together with London Voices and Heinz Holliger's ›Scardanelli-Zyklus‹ at the Musik Biennale in Venice
Six concerts at Salzburger Festspiele with works by George Benjamin, Heiner Goebbels, Olivier Messiaen, Luigi Nono, Edgard Varèse, and Hans Zender i.a.
First performances at the BBC-Proms in London, at the Wiener Musikverein and at Concertgebouw Amsterdam

1996

U.S. tour with works by Frank Zappa, Conlon Nancarrow, John Adams, Edgard Varèse and Wolfgang Rihm (in New York, Chicago, Washington i.a.)
World premiere of the music theater ›Black on White‹ by Heiner Goebbels in Frankfurt a.M., followed by invitations to 15 theatres in Europe and overseas.
Touring to Frankfurt a.M., London, Stockholm and Copenhagen with works by Frank Zappa and Edgard Varèse
First young composer forum in cooperation with Gesellschaft für Neue Musik (contemporary music society) and Siemens Arts Program
World premiere of Mark Anthony Turnage's ›Blood on the Floor‹ at Queen Elisabeth Hall in London. Followed by a tour to Berlin, Frankfurt a.M., Cologne, and Vienna
Three concerts at Musikfestwochen Lucerne with works by Beat Furrer, Michael Jarrell, and Hans-Werner Henze conducted by Jonathan Nott and Sian Edwards
Beethoven's 5th Symphony in combination with works by Karlheinz Stockhausen and Edgard Varèse in Frankfurt a.M., Cologne, and Darmstadt, at Musikfest Bremen, the Berliner Festwochen, and at settembre musica in Turin
György Ligeti portrait concert in Spain
First Australian tour to Melbourne with works by György Ligeti, Helmut Lachenmann i.a.
Performance of Michael Jarrell 's monodrama ›Kassandra‹ at Wiener Festwochen

1997

World premiere of the video opera ›Three Tales‹, part 1 ›Hindenburg‹ (work in progress) by Steve Reich and Beryl Korot in Bonn followed by a European tour.
America-program at the BBC-Proms conducted by Dominique My
Further performances of Heiner Goebbels' ›Black on White‹ all over Europe
Further performances of ›Kassandra‹ by Michael Jarrell
Works of Frank Zappa, Steve Reich i.a. at settembre musica in Turin conducted by Peter Rundel and Dominique My
Staged performances of György Ligeti's ›Mysteries of the Macabre‹ and ›Aventures & Nouvelles Aventures‹ in Frankfurt a.M. and Vienna conducted by Jonathan Nott
World premiere of Wolfgang Rihm's ›Verborgene Formen‹ at the Berliner Festwochen
The film / video production of Heiner Goebbels' music theatre ›Black on White‹ directed by Manfred Waffender and Heiner Goebbels is broadcasted on arte (French-german tv station) for the first time
New year's concert with works of Hanns Eisler, HK Gruber and subsequent CD production

1998

Invitation to play in Australia (Adelaide)
Hanns Eisler project with Heiner Goebbels.
First tour of the Ensemble Modern Orchestra (EMO) including the premieres of Heiner Goebbels' ›Walden‹ and Helmut Lachenmann's ›Schwankungen am Rand‹ conducted by Peter Eötvös
Third ›Nachwuchsforum‹ (a special tutelage program and forum) for composers, artists and musicologists under the mentorship of Gesellschaft für Neue Musik (contmporary music society) and EM;theme: ›Live & Elektronik‹
Touring England with Mark Anthony Turnage's ›Blood on the floor‹
Guest performances in Japan (Akiyoshidai, Mito, Tokyo) directed by Peter Eötvös and Peter Rundel
World premiere of Heiner Goebbels' ›Eislermaterial‹ in Frankfurt a.M. followed by a tour to Munich, Vienna, Dresden and Berlin

1999

Working with Bill Viola once again
Performance of the original version of George Antheil's ›Ballet Mécanique‹.
CD production of Kurt Weill's ›Dreigroschenoper‹
Second tour of the Ensemble Modern Orchestra to Edinburgh, Lucerne, Turin, Bochum, Bremen, Frankfurt a.M. and Cologne with works by Charles Ives, Michael Gordon and John Adams, conducted by John Adams
4th ›Nachwuchsforum‹ (a special tutelage program and forum) for composers, artists and musicologists under the mentorship of Gesellschaft für Neue Musik (contmporary music society) and EM; theme: ›Instrument & Instrumente‹ (instrument & instruments)
World premiere of Wolfgang Rihm's ›Trigon‹ with Salome Kammer in Frankfurt a.M. followed by a performance in Paris at Festival d' Automne

2000

Ten commissions for young composers (e.g. Enno Poppe, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Johannes Maria Staud) in collaboration with the city of Frankfurt for the millennium program ›Frankfurt 2000‹
Tour to Japan with works by Wolfgang Rihm, Igor Stravinsky, and Xiaoyong Chen in Tokyo and Yokohama
Sound exhibition ›Welt erzeugt Klang – 20 Jahre Ensemble Modern‹ (world produces sound – twenty years of Ensemble Modern) and ›Twenty cuts‹ by Christoph Martin (a collage of twenty works from the 20th century played by Ensemble Modern) at Schirn Kunsthalle
New Frank Zappa project ›Greggery Peccary & Other Persuasions‹ under the baton of Peter Eötvös at Alte Oper Frankfurt a..
European tour of Ensemble Modern Orchestra with Luigi Nono's ›Prometeo‹
›Die Dreigroschenoper‹ in Cologne, Berlin, Kiel, Rome
Founding of the ensemble's own record label Ensemble Modern Medien (EMM)
Premiere of the opera ›Die Blinden‹ by Beat Furrer at Bockenheimer Depot in Frankfurt a.M.

2001

Guest performance of Heiner Goebbels' ›Black on White‹ at Lincoln Center in New York.
Guo Wenjing's ›Ye Yan / The Night Banquet‹ and Hugues Dufourt's ›Le Cycle des Hivers‹ at the Festival d' Automne à Paris.
World premieres of Mark Andre, Enno Poppe and Andreas Dohmen at Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik
First collaborations with Oliver Knussen (i.a. the opening of the Hamburg Musikfest) and Matthias Pintscher in four concerts each
Ensemble Modern Orchestra tours under the baton of Pierre Boulez

2002

Touring India: concerts, workshops and talks with Indian artists, in Mumbai
›Ye Yan/ The Night Banquet‹ by Guo Wenjing in Perth/Australia, at the Lincoln Center Festival in New York and at Hebbel-Theater in Berlin
Premiere of the video opera ›Three Tales‹ by Steve Reich and Beryl Korot in Vienna, parts 1-3; followed by a tour through Europe with more than twenty performances in Amsterdam, London, Strasbourg, Paris, Lisbon, Berlin and Turin
First performance at documenta 11 in Kassel
Premiere and further performances of Heiner Goebbels' new opera ›Landscape with distant relatives‹ in Geneva
Salvatore Sciarrino's ›Macbeth‹ in Paris and Frankfurt a.M.

2003

Heiner Goebbels' opera ›Landscape with distant relatives‹ in St. Pölten, Berlin, Mulhouse, Amsterdam, and Frankfurt a.M.
EMO tour to Brussels, Cologne and Frankfurt a.M. on behalf of György Ligeti's 80th birthday
Premiere of Harrison Birtwistle's ›Theseus Game‹ for ensemble and two conductors at the RuhrTriennale in Duisburg
First South Korean tour with concerts in Seoul and at Tongyeong International Music Festival
Premiere of Sandeep Bhagwati's ›RASAS‹ and Charlotte Seither's ›Living Garden‹ in Frankfurt a.M. - the last two of altogether ten commissions by Ensemble Modern and the city of Frankfurt for the millennium program ›Frankfurt 2000‹
Musical program for the first ›Ökumenischer Kirchentag‹ in Berlin
Salvatore Sciarrino's ›Luci mie traditrici‹ in Frankfurt a.M.
Guest performances at Lincoln Center Festival in New York and at Salzburger Festspiele
Frankfurter Positionen by the BHF-Bank Foundation with premieres by Rolf Riehm, Fabien Lévy, Manfred Stahnke, Isabel Mundry and Brice Pauset.
RASA-LÎLA - premieres of commissions for six Indian virtuosos (Uday Bhawalkar, Shubha Mudgal, Aneesh Pradhan, Dhruba Gosh, Ashok Ranade and Ganesh Anandan) at the House of World Cultures in Berlin
Founding of the International Ensemble Modern Academy (IEMA)
World premiere of Harrison Birtwistle's ›Theseus Game‹ at Ruhr-Triennale 2003

2004

First collaboration with Bill Forsythe
First International Composition Seminar of IEMA in collaboration with Allianz Kulturstiftung with seven european premieres by young composers (e.g. Marton Illès, Arnulf Herrmann, Saed Haddad, Dai Fujikura); lecturer: Helmut Lachenmann
Performance at the BBC-Proms
Portrait concerts of György Kurtág (Rheingau Musik Festival) and Peter Eötvös (›Auftakt‹ series at Alte Oper Frankfurt a.M.)
For the first time: IEMA master classes at Klangspuren Schwaz and at Paxos Spring Festival
World premiere of Benedict Mason's felt|ebb|thus|brink|here|array|telling in Donaueschingen
World premiere of ›...ce qui arrive... ‹ by Olga Neuwirth and Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster
IEMA's first symposium; theme: ›TEMPO‹ – High-Speed in Science and the Arts

2005

European premiere of Steve Reich's ›You Are (Variations)‹
Concert tour through Europe by EM and EMO for the 70th birthday of Helmut Lachenmann: world premiere of his new ensemble work ›Concertini‹ and performances of his orchestral works ›Nun‹, ›Ausklang‹‹, ›Kontrakadenz‹ and Richard Strauss' ›Alpensinfonie‹
Guest performance at Salzburg Festival
Launch of a portrait concert series in Frankfurt a.M. for the 25th anniversary of Ensemble Modern
25 years EM in Dresden / Hellerau with the world premiere of ›le tout le rien‹ by Jens Joneleit
Second International Composition Seminar of IEMA in cooperation with Allianz Kulturstiftung, composers: Bánk Sáry, Hannes G. Seidl, Daniele Ghisi i.a. / lecturer: George Benjamin

2006

Cooperation with Chinese composers of the first graduate class after the Cultural Revolution (premieres of two Ensemble works and Liu Sola's Opera ›Fantasy of the Red Queen‹). Concerts in Frankfurt a. M., Berlin, and Beijing
Concerts relating to the ›Mozart Year 2006‹ (250th anniversary)
8th ›Nachwuchsforum‹ (a special tutelage program and forum) for composers, artists and musicologists under the mentorship of Gesellschaft für Neue Musik (contemporary music society) and EM
Participation of EM and IEMA at the World New Music Festival 2006 and the Darmstadt International Summer Courses for New Music
Premiere of the first stage work of George Benjamin ›Into the Little Hill‹ (Libretto: Martin Crimp) at Festival d' Automne in Paris

2007

Premiere of ›Ortswechsel‹ by Johannes Kalitzke / Edgard Reitz at Donaueschinger Musiktage
Premiere of Francois Sarhan's ›Testimony‹ at Festival musica in Strasbourg and Metz
Premiere of the concert opera ›Phaedra‹ by Hans Werner Henze at Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin
Tour of Ensemble Modern Orchestra under the direction of Pierre Boulez with works by Enno Poppe, Mark Andre, Edgard Varèse, and Pierre Boulez in Baden-Baden, Amsterdam, Paris, Berlin, and Frankfurt a.M.
New production of Kurt Weill's ›Die Dreigroschenoper‹ by André Wilms at Schauspiel Frankfurt together with IEMA; almost 60 performances following the premiere
Touring to Caen, Paris, Reims, Luxembourg, and Frankfurt a.M. with Fritz Lang's film ›Metropolis‹ with music by Martín Matalón
Premiere of the music theatre ›Der Brand‹ by Jens Joneleit at Eclat-Festival in Stuttgart
IEMA's third International Composition Seminar, supported by Allianz Kulturstiftung, with Matthias Ockert, Seiko Itoh, Stefan Asbury and Hanspeter Kyburz
Happy New Ears concert with Heinz Holliger's ›Puneigä‹ to poems by Anna Maria Bacher
New, commissioned pieces by Markus Hechtle, Enno Poppe and Johannes Maria Staud at the Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik, in Frankfurt a.M., and in Hamburg
Dutch Premiere of George Benjamin's ›Into the Little Hill‹ at Holland Festival in Amsterdam, U.S. premiere in New York at Lincoln Center Festival, German premiere in Frankfurt a.M. at Bockenheimer Depot
Premiere of Emmanuel Nunes' ›Épures du Serpent Vert IV‹ in Lisbon and Porto

2008

Chinese premiere of Liu Sola's ›Fantasy of the Red Queen‹ in Hongkong
Concerts at Megaron in Athens, e.g. ›Die Dreigroschenoper‹, ›Black on White‹ and composition workshops
Starting the ›into...‹ project: compositional approaches to Istanbul, Dubai, Johannesburg, and the Pearl River Delta – a project by Ensemble Modern and Siemens Arts Program, in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut
›into Istanbul‹: premieres of Mark Andre, Beat Furrer, Samir Odeh-Tamimi and Vladimir Tarnopolski in Berlin and Frankfurt a.M.
Premiere of ›Com que voz‹ by Stefano Gervasoni in Porto, together with Fado singer Cristina Branco and Frank Wörner, baritone. Followed by performances in Frankfurt a.M., Berlin, Paris (Agora Festival) and Strasbourg
Premieres at Frankfurter Positionen by the BHF-Bank Foundation: ›Weil Erde in meinem Körper war‹ at Schauspiel Frankfurt choreographed by Wanda Golonka and ›Jagden und Formen‹ by Wolfgang Rihm with a choreography by Sasha Waltz
Jens Joneleit's audio piece ›Piero – Ende der Nacht‹ is being premiered at the Muffathalle in Munich, followed by further performances in Frankfurt a.M.
Invitation to Tokyo, concerts at Opera City Concert Hall with a portrait of Steve Reich and a tribute concert to Karlheinz Stockhausen, in cooperation with Goethe Institute Tokyo
›Into the Little Hill‹ by George Benjamin being performed in Liverpool, at the Wiener Festwochen, in Milan and Turin
Premiere of Pascal Dusapin's opera ›Passion‹ in Aix-en-Provence
Participating at the ›Ensembliade‹ during Donaueschinger Musiktage: three ensembles (Klangform Wien, Ensemble Intercontemporain and Ensemble Modern) playing nine premieres during one day.

2009

Resumption of ›Phädra‹, the concert opera by Hans Werner Henze in Berlin (Staatsoper Unter den Linden) and in Cologne
›Reich meets Richter‹: Encounter of Steve Reich and Georg Richter at the Museum Ludwig, Cologne and the Kölner Philharmonie with ›Drumming – Part One‹ and ›Music for 18 Musicians‹ further performances of Pascal Dusapin's opera ›Passion‹ in Paris and Amsterdam
Compositions by Mauricio Kagel at Festival Ultraschall in Berlin
Elliott Carter's 100th birthday: German premiere of ›Duettino für Violine und Violoncello‹ in Frankfurt a.M. conducted by Heinz Holliger
›into Johannesburg‹. Compositional approaches to Johannesburg. Premieres of Luke Bedford, Jörg Birkenkötter, Lars Peter Hagen, and Lucia Ronchetti in Berlin and Frankfurt a.M.
Premiere of José Maria Sánchez Verdú's ›Lux ex Tenebris‹ in Sevilla and Madrid
Invitation from Bibliotheca Alexandrina to perform twice during the first International Biennale for Contemporary Music in Alexandrina and Cairo
›into Dubai‹ – compositional appproaches to Dubai: premieres of Jörg Widmann, Márton Illés, Markus Hechtle, and Vykintas Baltakas in Berlin and Frankfurt a.M.
Two concerts at Salzburger Festspiele, Kontinent Varèse
Kurt Weill's ›Mahagonny Songspiel‹ and ›Die Sieben Todsünden‹ in Paris (Théâtre des Champs-Élysées)
Portrait concert of Pierre Boulez at Alte Oper Frankfurt a.M. (›Auftakt‹ series)
›into Pearl River Delta‹ – compositional approaches to Pearl River Delta: Premieres of Unsuk Chin, David Fennessy, Heiner Goebbels, Benedict Mason, and Johannes Schöllhorn