Ensemble contrasts
The Ensemble Kontraste (spelling: ensemble KONTRASTE (eK)) was founded in 1990 in Nuremberg as an association of musicians with the intention of realizing musical projects that are neglected in the ongoing concert operations of the large orchestras , be it because of their modernity, their chamber music cast or other special features. The "contrast to the usual" was on the agenda from the start.
Concert activity
With its conceptual orientation, Ensemble Kontraste developed into an alternative in the musical life of the Nuremberg Metropolitan Region , with chamber or ensemble music, classical or contemporary, alone or in connection with drama , puppet theater , video art , film , literature and visual arts . The backbone of the Ensemble-Kontraste program is the concert series "KONTRASTE - Klassik in der Tafelhalle ". The concerts are as unconventional as the venue, with their own dramaturgical line, encompassing all areas of classical music:
Concerts, stage, film and video productions (selection)
- Wanderer with Christoph Prégardien
- Magic Flute - An exam with Thalia's companions
- Tulemond and Mondamin with Salome Kammer & Thalia's companions
- Duck, death and tulip with the theater puddle
- Other songs (Chansons by Edith Piaf , Jacques Brèl and Kurt Weill )
- Storm over Asia , silent films and music with ZDF / Arte
- Zappa and friends
- Pandora's box , silent film and music with ZDF / Arte
- Panzerkreutzer Potemkin, silent film and music with Gene Pritsker
Education programs for children
- Circus Musicus
- Carnival of the Animals
Thematic extra series (selection)
- Art under the dome in cooperation with the Nuremberg Planetarium
- Contemporary video art combined with music
- Poets Café, a mix of reading and music in 2003 with the writer and translator Hans Wollschläger launched
Concert tours
In addition to its concert activities in Nuremberg, the Ensemble Kontraste plays in major European cities:
- Luxembourg (Philharmonic)
- Vienna (Konzerthaus)
- Paris (Louvre Museum)
- Berlin (Volksbühne)
- Athens (Megaron)
- Lisbon (National Theater)
- Nara (Nara Music Festival)
- Krakow (National Theater)
- Moscow (Vakhtangova Theater)
It received u. a. Invitations to the Vienna Festival , Schwetzingen Festival , Warsaw Chopin Festival, Berlinale , Salzburg Festival , Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival , Nara Music Festival in Japan and Franconian Summer .
Cooperations (selection)
In its artistic work the Ensemble Kontraste meets the old with respect and the new without avant-garde attitude. Works or productions were created with this attitude:
- New compositions a. a. by Heinz Winbeck , Martin Smolka , Klaus Ospald , Michael Obst , András Hamary , Leo Dick , Marcus Maria Reißenberger , Manfred Knaak and Gene Pritsker .
- Magic Flute - An exam in collaboration with the Thalias Kompagnons Theater
- Tulemond and Mondamin with the Thalias Kompagnons Theater
- The story of the soldier, the chronicler of the winds in cooperation with the Mummpitz theater
- Ente, Tod und Tulpe, Der Starke Wanja in cooperation with the Theater Pfütze
- pour la fin du temps - from the end of time in collaboration with the Nuremberg Planetarium and the video artist Christoph Brech
- Erik Satie - Le fils des Étoiles - Music under certain circumstances in collaboration with the Nuremberg Planetarium and the video artist Roswitha Huber
- Gustav Holst ELECTRIC PLANETS Based on the famous orchestral work THE PLANETS by Gustav Holst in cooperation with the Planetarium Nürnberg and the group hypecycle
Media partner
Media partners are Bayerischer Rundfunk and ZDF / Arte.
Musician
- Kevin John Edusei , conductor
- Frank Strobel , silent film conductor
- Pawel Zalejski, violin / KM
- Jessica Hartlieb, violin / KM
- Makiko Odagiri, violin
- Karlotta Eß, violin
- Christian Sauer, viola
- Ariel Barnes, violoncello
- Andreas Müller, double bass
- Anke Trautmann, flute - founding member
- Helmut Bott, oboe - founding member
- NN, clarinet
- Günter Voit, clarinet, saxophone
- Christof Baumbusch, bassoon
- Eckhard Kierski, trumpet - founding member
- Filip Kovac, horn
- Johannes Kronfeld, trumpet
- Holger Pfeuffer, trombone
- Christian Stier, drums
- Stefan Danhof, piano - founding member
- Stefan Hippe , accordion
organization
Orchestra structure and administration
Structurally, the Ensemble Kontraste is a self-administered ensemble in which the decisions are made by all members. This means that there are no external employees in the organization or administration. Any organizational work related to concert planning and execution, financial management, guest tours, advertising, etc. is carried out by a team consisting of musicians from the ensemble.
Financial support
In addition to the Free State of Bavaria and the District of Middle Franconia , the City of Nuremberg supports Ensemble Kontraste financially with its own budget office. In addition, the ensemble contrasts among other things, which is Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation , the German-Czech Future Fund , the Bavarian Music Fund , the Bavarian Cultural Fund , Future Foundation of Sparkasse Nürnberg, Cultural Foundation of Sparkasse Nürnberg, funds Performer Arts and the German Music Council promoted.
Discography / DVD
- "Electric Planets" with the ensemble KONTRASTE electric band, ambitus records
- "Wanderer" with Christoph Prégardien , challenge records
- Anton Webern / Arnold Schönberg , ambitus records
- Jean Françaix, ambitus records
- La souriante Madame Beudet DVD, arte Edition silent film by Germaine Dulac , France 1922 Music Manfred Knaak 2006
- Johan DVD, arte Edition silent film by Mauritz Stiller , Sweden 1921 Music Bernd Schultheis 2002
- Storm over Asia DVD, arte edition silent film by Vsevolod Pudovkin , Mongolia 1929 Music Bernd Schultheis 2008
Awards
Numerous prizes recognize the work of the ensemble:
- 1999 Wolfram-von-Eschenbach-Förderpreis
- 2004 Culture Prize of the City of Nuremberg
- 2007 Friedrich Baur Prize from the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts
- 2010 Culture Prize from E.ON Bayern AG
- 2015 Wolfram von Eschenbach Prize
- 2020 Great Culture Prize of the City of Nuremberg