Ensemble intercontemporain

Ensemble intercontemporain is a Paris-based, world-renowned ensemble of 31 full-time musicians dedicated to performing and promoting contemporary chamber music. It was founded by Pierre Boulez in 1972 for this purpose, the first permanent organization of its type in the world. Since then the Ensemble has toured extensively both in France and abroad, appearing especially at international festivals. Beyond performing they also have teaching and other outreach activities to support young musicians, composers and conductors. The Ensemble consists of thirty one full-time soloists in various instruments, who are dedicated to the performance and promotion of contemporary chamber music written in the 20th and 21st centuries. They exist to fill a need for musicians who can work with new playing techniques and composition styles prevalent in this kind of music. The Ensemble is resident at the Philharmonie de Paris, under artistic director Matthias Pintscher and assistant director Julien Leroy, with their activities financed by the French Ministry of Culture and the city of Paris. They perform about thirty times a year in their home city, and tour extensively both in France and abroad, especially at international festivals. These concerts regularly include the premieres of new compositions, often commissioned by the Ensemble itself, which gives preference to young composers who have not yet had their work performed by the organization. The Ensemble has over 2,000 contemporary works in their repertoire, much of which has been recorded and includes composers such as Elliott Carter, Luigi Dallapiccola, Luciano Berio, along with the complete works of Boulez, György Ligeti, György Kurtág, Alejandro Romero, George Benjamin, Roberto Carnevale and Ivan Fedele. Their support for composers goes beyond playing their work in public and includes collaborating with composers both in the creation and interpretation processes. One reason for this is that the techniques and composition style of contemporary music is significantly different from classical music, and composer notation systems vary, especially with the indications of these new techniques. The Ensemble also supports young musicians which includes workshops at schools, master classes and more for conservatory students, professional and amateur musicians and training for conductors and composers. Since 2004 individual members have been tutoring young instrumentalists, conductors and composers in contemporary music as part of the Lucerne Festival Academy (Lucerne Festival). In addition, they collaborate with other kinds of artists from the fields of dance, theater, video and visual arts. The organization collaborates regularly with the Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique (Institute of Acoustic Music Research and Coordination) which sponsors research and concerts to showcase technological innovations in composition