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Ensemble Modern

Contemporary music ensemble

Founded in 1980, Ensemble Modern is a renowned music formation based in Frankfurt am Main. The ensemble comprises 18 soloists from various countries, including Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, India, Israel, Japan, Switzerland, and the USA. They engage in a wide range of artistic projects, including music theater works, dance and multimedia projects, chamber music, ensemble and orchestral concerts.

 

Ensemble Modern regularly performs at prestigious festivals such as Bregenzer Festspiele, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Manifeste, and Berliner Festspiele. They also have their own subscription series at the Alte Oper Frankfurt. Additionally, they collaborate with the Frankfurt Opera and organize the “Happy New Ears” workshop concerts.

The ensemble is committed to fostering new talent and advancing contemporary music through the International Ensemble Modern Academy (IEMA). The IEMA offers educational programs, including the Master’s Degree Program in Contemporary Music Performance in partnership with the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts (HfMDK), as well as composer and conductor seminars (ICCS) and education projects for children and teenagers.

 

Ensemble Modern has collaborated with esteemed composers such as Frank Zappa, Hans Zender, György Ligeti, Unsuk Chin, Olga Neuwirth, Rebecca Saunders, and Brigitta Muntendorf, and has a diverse discography released on labels such as Ensemble Modern Media, col legno, ECM Records, NEOS Music, Sony Music, and Wergo.

Dietmar Wiesner - Flute

Jagdish Mistry - Violin

Paul Cannon - Double-Bass

Rainer Römer - Percussion

Ksenia Ravvina

Theater and Performance Director

Photo credit: Ksenia Ravvina

Ksenia Ravvina studied History at St. Petersburg State University, Directing in Frankfurt, and Applied Theatre Studies at Justus-Liebig-University Giessen. In recent years, she has worked on several projects in Germany, Eastern Europe, and the USA, including projects for Staatstheater Wiesbaden, Theater und Orchester Heidelberg, Staatstheater Darmstadt, Schauspielhaus Bochum, Dirty Deal Teatro in Riga, as well as various collaborations with Künstlerhaus Mousonturm Frankfurt, Frankfurt LAB, Schwankhalle Bremen, Tanzplattform Rhein-Main, RUHRTRIENNALE, Opera Philadelphia, and Deutsches Theater Berlin. In 2019, Ksenia Ravvina co-created the opera DENIS & KATYA at Opera Philadelphia, USA. The piece was celebrated worldwide and received several international awards (FEDORA – GENERALI Prize for Opera 2019, Finalist of the International Opera Awards 2020, among others). In the same year, she directed UNTERTITEL. EINE TECHNO OPER IN DREI AKTEN at Atelierfrankfurt. In spring 2021, she premiered the piece THE ARRIVAL at Theater Münster. Her most recent work, IN A REAL TRAGEDY, IT IS NOT THE HEROINE WHO DIES; IT IS THE CHORUS, premiered at Deutsches Theater Berlin in October 2021. Starting from autumn 2023, Ksenia Ravvina, together with Alexandar Hadjiev, will assume the artistic direction of the festival HAUPTSACHE FREI in Hamburg for the next three editions from 2024 to 2026.

Mihaela Dobreva

Scenography

Photo credit: Yana Lozeva

Michaela Dobreva is a lecturer in Computer Animation at the Department of Scenography of the National Academy of Arts and a PhD student in Digital Arts. She has a Master’s degree in Scenography and has worked on over 20 theatre and dance productions. Her main interests are in interactive and sit-specific arts. Together with Boris Dalchev, she established the “Sаpromat” association. The collective’s signature performances “Phantasm” (in collaboration with Tsveta Doycheva) and “Invisible Cities” (in collaboration with Conclave theatre), have been nominated for the National IKAR prize in 2021 and 2022.

Alexandar Hadjiev

Composition

Photo credit: David DIwak

Alexandar Hadjiev was born in Sofia, Bulgaria. He studied bassoon at the National School of Music “L. Pipkov” in Sofia and at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen. From 2011 to 2012, he was a fellow at the International Ensemble Modern Academy in Frankfurt am Main. He is a member of MAM, Manufaktur für aktuelle Musik, and a guest musician with the Ensemble Modern. As a composer and performer, Hadjiev actively works in the field of interdisciplinary performance, collaborating with institutions such as the Deutsches Theater Berlin, Theater Münster, Mousonturm, and others. He has received scholarships from the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe, the MusicFonds, the Fond Darstellender Kunst, the Mercator Foundation, the Kulturstiftung NRW, and others. In 2014, Alexandar Hadjiev founded the “180° – Laboratory for Innovative Art” festival in Sofia, which focuses on the process of interdisciplinary collaboration among international artists. Starting in autumn 2023, Alexandar Hadjiev, together with Ksenia Ravvina, will assume the artistic direction of the “HAUPTSACHE FREI” festival in Hamburg for the next three editions from 2024 to 2026. Hadjiev actively engages in cultural education, which strongly influences his artistic work.

Play° Event

Untitled design (3)
Play°
20:30 | Toplocentrala

For the opening of 180° - Laboratory for Innovative Art, we are thrilled to present EXISTINCT – a captivating performance featuring Ensemble Modern (Germany) and the artistic team of 180°. With the music composition of Alexandar Hadjiev, who alongside the theater director Ksenia Ravvina and scenographer Mihaela Dobreva developed the concept, this immersive experience creates a multidimensional world of sound and time. Developed within the Checkpoint concert series by Ensemble Modern in March 2023, this extraordinary production invites you to join the anniversary edition of 180° and to embark on a journey exploring the coexistence of past, present, and future.

 

22.30 | 180° Turns 10
Party at TOPLOCENTRALA 

We celebrate our 10th turn around the sun with a special galactic party with music selected by Julieta Intergalactica.

21. July
Friday

Copyright 2024 © All rights Reserved.

Visual Identity: Stefana Petrova; Web Design: Alexandar Hadjiev

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