E-MEX-Ensemble Tickets

The E-MEX-Ensemble was founded by six musicians from Cologne and the Ruhr in 1999. It quickly developed an outstanding reputation. The idea of the ensemble is to work closely and in direct, personal exchange with composers. The repertoire has now grown to more than 300 pieces in different instrumentations. It also includes several works by top names in the international New Music scene, such as Elliot Carter, Iannis Xenakis, Franco Donatoni, Gérard Grisey, Toshio Hosokawa, Salvatore Sciarrino and Helmut Lachenmann.

E-MEX develops its own concert series, is entrusted with many world premieres and regularly performs at concerts and festivals in Europe, Asia, and North and South America. Composers such as Sven-Ingo Koch, Elena Mendoza, Valerio Sannicandro, Vassos Nicolaou, Yasuko Yamaguchi, Karin Haußmann and Gordon Kampe have written pieces especially for E-MEX. The most important projects of recent years include various CD productions with Deutschlandfunk in Cologne, concert tours to Japan, Chile, Korea and China, and concert recordings with SWR, WDR and DLF.

The ensemble’s core line-up consists of the flute, clarinet, oboe, trombone, violin, viola, cello, accordion, piano and percussion. The ensemble also nurtures its collaboration with various conductors, solo singers and other instrumentalists.

The ensemble has set itself the task of bringing New Music to places that make a broadened understanding of art possible: with its concert series in museums E-MEX has developed a unique format for itself that aims at being a sustainable way of teaching music and art and that desires the opportunity for art to be taken in from new perspectives. Concert introductions or programmes developed especially for children and young people further enliven the dialogue between contemporary music and its audience. It is also important to the ensemble to engage in connecting music to other art forms such as acting, literature, performance and multimedia work, a trend that is increasing in the contemporary music scene at this time.