Concert Conversations in Meersburg:

On September 21 and 22, 2018 the City of Meersburg, the International Ensemble Modern Academy, Ensemble Modern (IEMA) and the Institute of Philosophy of the Vienna University present the ›Meersburger KonzertGespräche‹ (Meersburg Concert Conversations), with the support of the Hans and Gertrud Zender Foundation. The focus of these readings, lectures, open rehearsals and concert is on Hans Zender’s works ›Hölderlin lesen III und V‹ and on the Friedrich Hölderlin texts they are based upon, which will be illuminated from the perspectives of philosophy, musicology and literature. At the core of the interdisciplinary project is the presentation of Zender’s string quartet ›Hölderlin lesen III‹ by IEMA musicians, who will rehearse it with Ensemble Modern members and Hans Zender before performing it in concert, joined by Salome Kammer as narrator. Ensemble Modern will contribute Beethoven’s String Quartet Op. 18 No. 3; Salome Kammer and accordionist Teodoro Anzellotti will also perform Hans Zender’s ›Hölderlin lesen V‹. An additional performance of this concert takes place at Hellerau – European Center for the Arts Dresden on November 9, 2018. Ensemble Modern has enjoyed a profound and long-standing relationship with Hans Zender as a composer, initiator and thinker – he is one of those who provided impulses for the founding of Ensemble Modern; in 1993 he initiated the series of moderated concerts ›Happy New Ears‹, which saw its 100th performance in 2018. The Hans and Gertrud Zender Foundation is one of the pillars of the Ensemble Modern Board of Patrons. Through their foundation, the Zenders bundle their support for the arts and cultural policy; for decades, they have championed an alert attitude towards music and curiosity and open-mindedness regarding the work of numerous contemporary composers.