Ensemble intercontemporain

History[edit]

The Ensemble intercontemporain was founded in 1976 by composer and conductor Pierre Boulez, with the support of French Minister of Culture Michel Guy and the collaboration of Nicholas Snowman,^[3][8] in order to provide performers for contemporary chamber music.^[1][4]


The idea for the Ensemble came from Boulez's experiences as part of the historical avant garde of Darmstadt, Germany, in the 1950s, contemporary of Stockhausen, Berio, Ligeti and Nono. He began his career as a composer in contemporary music, moving onto conducting orchestras such as New York Philharmonic (1971–1978) and the BBC Symphony Orchestra (1971–1975). He states that his first love is composition and noted the lack of venues to premiere and promote new music, so he created the Ensemble for playing and producing music, along with IRCAM, Institut de recherche et coordination acoustique/musique for academic work into the same field.^[4]


Since 1995 the Ensemble has been based at the Cité de la Musique (itself part of Philharmonie de Paris from 2015).^[1][3] Boulez held the position of president,^[9] with Péter Eötvös becoming the first musical director, appointed by Boulez in 1979.^[10] Successive music directors of the EIC have been David Robertson (1992–2000), Jonathan Nott (2000–2003), Susanna Mälkki (2006–2013) and Matthias Pintscher (2013–present).^{[1][7][11][12]} Mälkki was the first female music director of the EIC. Pintscher is scheduled to conclude his tenure as EIC music director at the close of the 2022-2023 season. In December 2021, the EIC announced the appointment of Pierre Bleuse as its next music director, effective with the 2023-2024 season, with an initial contract of 4 years.^[13]


The Ensemble has toured extensively to South America, Russia, Canada, the United States, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, and most major cities of Europe.^[7] Recent performances include the National Autonomous University of Mexico and the Palacio de Bellas Artes (2007),^[6] Buenos Aires in 2012,^[14] the Festival Internacional Cervantino in 2014,^[5][15] and in honor of Pierre Boulez's 90th birthday, a concert at the Barbican Centre in London.^[8][16]


The EIC has recorded for a number of labels, including Deutsche Grammophon (music of Ligeti, Alban Berg, Arnold Schoenberg, Boulez^[17] and Unsuk Chin^[18]), and KAIROS (music of Alberto Posadas, Matthias Pintscher,^[19] Luca Francesconi, Philippe Manoury and Michael Jarrell). Recordings by the EIC have received multiple awards, including the Gramophone Award and the Diapason d'Or