Ensemble Modern Orchestra

The orchestra acts as a catalyst for the energies of the composers: Dieter Ammann’s “Glut” (2014/16) ignites the orchestral fire with its multi-coloured tone clusters, dramatic polyphony and striking rhythms. A similar tonal splendour is displayed in Unsuk Chin’s “SPIRA” (2019), which, starting with bowed vibraphones, sparkles in countless shades of colour. Elizabeth Ogonek’s “Cloudline” (2021) grows out of microtonally iridescent tone surfaces, shifting towards ever more incisive motifs. With “A Mind of Winter” (1981) Benjamin has created a bewitchingly melancholy song for orchestra that recreates the external and internal winters in Wallace Stevens’ poem “A Snow Man” in suggestive colours. And there is also a world premiere to look forward to: Francesco Filidei’s “Cantico delle Creature” (2022/2023), a composition commissioned by the Ensemble Modern, the Fondazione Teatro Carlo Felice Genova and the Berliner Festspiele / Musikfest Berlin.