1980

  • Founded by the musicians themselves as a special ensemble for music of the 20th century. 21 members own the ensemble together with an executive director. All important decisions about program, conductors and finances are made together; the artistic and finances risks are carried together. From project to project flexible in its size in some cases wide up to symphony orchestra. Huge stylistic spectrum: From the classic of the century to John Cage, from the avantgarde to experimental Jazz and Rock. Next to concerts, film productions, multimedia events and music theatre receive equal treatment. Approximatly 100 concerts a year. Half of them in Germany the others in Europe and overseas.

since 1981

  • Publication of 25 CDs with well-known labels.
  • Frequent television productions.

1983

1984

  • First Amerika tour.

1985

  • Beginning of its own subsription series at the Frankfurter Alte Oper.
  • The City of Frankfurt brings the Ensemble Modern into Schirn Kunsthalle.

1987

  • The City of Frankfurt brings the Ensemble Modern into Schirn Kunsthalle.
  • Frequent concerts in Cologne, Paris, London.
  • First production with enlarged ensemble: Luigi Nono "Prometeo" in Frankfurt, Berlin, Paris.

1989

  • Collaboration with Ornette Coleman and Anthony Braxton.
  • Beginning of its own subsription series at the Vienna Konzerthaus.

1990

  • Four weeks tour through Russia.

1992

  • Tour of the Yellow Shark.
  • Second America tour.
  • Stockhausen-project with seven concerts in Frankfurt.

1993

  • Worldpremiere of Henze "Requiem" in Cologne, afterwards concerts in Vienna, Frankfurt, Berlin, Munich, Firenze, Venice (San Marco) and Salzburg.
  • CD production of works by Edgar Varèse together with Frank Zappa in Los Angeles.
  • Beginning of the second subscription series in Frankfurt "Happy New Ears".
  • Big succes with Nono's "Prometeo" at the Salzburger Festspiele, since then regular invitations to Salzburg.

1994

  • Portraits of Strawinsky and Stockhausen at the Salzburger Festspiele.
  • Beginning of the Varèse cycle in European metropolises.
  • Worldpremiere of the movie by Bill Viola to Varèse´s "Déserts" with live-music, since then 15 performances in Europe.

1995

  • East-Europe tour and second tour through Russia.
  • 6 concerts at the Salzburger Festspiele.
  • First concert at the London BBC-Proms at the Wiener Musikverein and the Concertgebouw Amsterdam.

1996

  • First USA tour (e.g. New York, Chicago, Washington).
  • Worldpremiere of the music theater "Black on White" by Heiner Goebbels in Frankfurt, followed by invitations to 15 theaters in Europe and overseas.
  • First Australian tour (Melbourne).

1997

  • Worldpremiere of a video opera "Three Tales", part 1 "Hindenburg" (work in progress) by Steve Reich and Beryl Korot in Bonn with Europe tour.
  • 1st young composer forum in cooperation with the Gesellschaft für Neue Musik.
  • America-program at the BBC-Proms.

1998

  • Starring- and tour-invitations to Australia, Japan and USA.
  • Hanns Eisler projekt with Heiner Goebbels.
  • 1st tour of the Ensemble Modern Orchestra.

1999

  • Working again with Bill Viola.
  • Performance of the first version of Antheils "Ballet Méchanique".
  • Production of the "Dreigroschenoper".
  • 2nd tour of the Ensemble Modern Orchestra with John Adams.

2000

  • 10 commissions for young composers in collaboration with the city of Frankfurt for the Millennium-program "Frankfurt 2000".
  • 2 tours of the Ensemble Modern Orchestra under the baton of George Benjamin.
  • 2nd tour to Japan.
  • Sound exhibition and events in the Schirn Kunsthalle.
  • New Zappa-project "Greggery Peccary & Other Persuasions" under the baton of Peter Eötvös in collaboration with Ali N. Askin.
  • Europe tour of the Ensemble Modern Orchestras with Luigi Nono's "Prometeo".

2001

  • Six of the 10 commissions by the Ensemble Modern and the City of Frankfurt for the millennium program "Frankfurt 2000" are premiered: Enno Poppe, Johannes Maria Staud, Brett Dean, Hilda Paredes, Markus Hechtle and Sebastian Stier.
  • Ensemble Modern combines Old and New Music in two tours: together with the Freiburger Barockorchester Mark Anthony Turnage's piece "About Time" gets premiered in February. Together with the Collegium Vocale Gent a vast tour through Europe is done with works by Schütz and Stravinsky.
  • Performances of Heiner Goebbels' "Black on White" at the Lincoln Center in New York.
  • Guo Wenjing's "Ye Yan" - The Night Banquet and Hugues Dufourt's "Le Cycle des Hivers" are premiered at the Festival d'Automne à Paris.
  • First collaborations with Oliver Knussen (a.o. the opening of the Hamburg Musikfest) and Matthias Pintscher in four concerts each.
  • Ensemble Modern Orchestra tour under the baton of Pierre Boulez.

2002

  • India tour. In Mumbai, concerts, workshops and talks with Indian artists.
  • Ye Yan/The Night Banquet by Guo Wenjing in Perth/Australia.
  • Premiere of the video opera "Three Tales von Steve Reich & Beryl Korot in Vienna, followed by a tour through Europe.
  • First performance at the documenta 11 in Kassel.
  • Premiere of Heiner Goebbels' new opera "Landscape with distant relatives" in Geneva.
  • Salvatore Sciarrino's "Macbeth" in Paris and Frankfurt.

2003

  • Heiner Goebbels' opera "Landscape with distant relatives" in St. Pölten, Berlin, Mulhouse, Amsterdam and Frankfurt.
  • EMO tour on behalf of György Ligeti's 80th birthday to Brussels, Cologne and Frankfurt.
  • Premiere of Harrison Birtwistle's "Theseus Game" for ensemble and two conductors at the RuhrTriennale in Duisburg.
  • First South Korea tour with concerts in Seoul and at the Tongyeong International Music Festival.
  • Premiere of Sandeep Bhagwati's "RASAS" and Charlotte Seither's "Living Garden" in Frankfurt - the last two of altogether 10 commissions by Ensemble Modern and the City of Frankfurt for the millenium program "Frankfurt 2000".
  • Musical program for the first "Ökumenischer Kirchentag" in Berlin.
  • Salvatore Sciarrino's "Luci mie traditrici" in Frankfurt.
  • Guest performances at the Lincoln Center Festival in New York and at the Salzburger Festspiele.
  • Frankfurt Positionen 2003 "Warum nicht würfeln" 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.
  • Foundation of the International Ensemble Modern Academy (IEMA)
  • World premiere of Harrison Birtwistle's "Theseus Game" at the Ruhr-Triennale 2003

2004

  • First collaboration with Bill Forsythe
  • First International Composers Seminar of the IEMA with seven premieres by young composers. Lecturer: Helmut Lachenmann
  • Performance at the Proms
  • Portrait concerts of György Kurtág (Rheingau Musik Festival) and Peter Eötvös (Auftakt)
  • IEMA master classes in Schwaz and on Paxos
  • 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
  • The IEMA's first symposium; topic: "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 Helmut Lachenmann: world premiere of his new ensemble work Concertini and performances of Richard Strauss' Alpensinfonie among other works
  • Guest performance at the Salzburg Festival
  • Launch of a portrait concert series in Frankfurt for the 25th anniversary of the Ensemble Modern
  • 25 Years EM in Dresden / Hellerau with the world premiere of le tout le rien by Jens Joneleit
  • International Composers Seminar of the IEMA with George Benjamin

2006

  • Cooperation with Chinese composers of the first graduate class after the Cultural Revolution (Premieres of two Ensemble works/pieces and Liu Sola's Opera Fantasy of the Red Queen). Concerts in Frankfurt/Main, Berlin and Beijing
  • Distinction as "Artist of the Year" by the Beijing Music Festival
  • Concerts relating to the "Mozart Year 2006" (250th anniversary)
  • Eighth "Nachwuchsforum" (a special tutelage programme and forum) for composers, artists and musicologists under the mentorship of GNM 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)

The musicians of the Ensemble Modern are grateful for the support of the Aventis Foundation in financing the costs of one chair in its orchestra.