Vienna Modern
Wien Modern is an Austrian festival for contemporary music that takes place annually in November in Vienna . It was founded in 1988 by Claudio Abbado to make central works of new music accessible to the Viennese public on a large scale. Contemporary music is the programmatic starting point of the festival, supplemented by performance, visual arts, film and video. Wien Modern takes place in large, traditional concert halls in Vienna, theaters, museums and alternative venues.
history
The foundation of the Wien Modern festival goes back to an initiative of the Italian conductor Claudio Abbado. In his function as music director of the Vienna State Opera at the end of the 1980s, he was able to convince political and cultural exponents of the need to offer the music of the 20th century in Vienna its own forum. Thus, the newly founded festival in 1988 was characterized by a revitalization of the traditional Viennese musical life. Lothar Knessl, Karsten Witt, Thomas Schäfer and Berno Odo Polzer have since given the festival its artistic profile. From 2010 to 2015 Wien Modern was under the artistic direction of Matthias Lošek, from 2016 Bernhard Günther has been responsible for the artistic direction. Wien Modern is a festival that uses contemporary music as a starting point to explore other fields and art forms. The festival is accompanied by ensembles from the Vienna Philharmonic , ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra and Klangforum Wien .
Institutions involved
Wien Modern is organized by the Wien Modern association in cooperation with the Wiener Konzerthausgesellschaft and the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna . Wien Modern is supported by Kapsch Aktiengesellschaft as the main sponsor. Numerous concerts take place in the Konzerthaus and the Musikverein , long-term partners are Schömer-Haus, Semper Depot, Odeon and Alte Schmiede . "Dschungel Wien Modern" takes place every year especially for young audiences in cooperation with Dschungel Wien .
Composition Prize
The Erste Bank Composition Prize has been awarded annually since 1989 as part of Wien Modern . The new work will be premiered and produced on CD together with Erste Bank , Klangforum Wien and Kairos.