The IEMA was founded in 2003 as a training center for the Ensemble Modern with the aim of passing on the musical heritage and promoting new ways of contemporary artistic creation. The IEMA offers a wide variety of training programs for different target groups: Education projects, international master classes, the International Composition Seminar and - as a focus of the educational formats - the Master's degree program International Ensemble Modern Academy - Contemporary Music Performance (MA IEMA CoMP) in cooperation with the HfMDK Frankfurt.
Professionalization in the field of contemporary music
The one-year Master's course is aimed at already trained instrumentalists, conductors, composers and sound directors. The aim is to teach contemporary playing techniques, the handling of notation and interpretation of contemporary music, the understanding of aesthetic concepts inherent in the work and, as a result, comprehensive knowledge of the repertoire of 20th and 21st century music. The course ends with the degree "Master of Music (M. Mus.)".
In the Master's program, young artists work as an IEMA ensemble work for a year with the members of the Ensemble Modern as teachers on the diverse repertoire of contemporary solo literature, chamber music and conducted ensemble works. Cooperation with various institutions also enables interdisciplinary projects.
In addition, renowned composers and conductors such as Mark Andre, Carola Bauckholt, Peter Eötvös, Brian Ferneyhough, Heiner Goebbels, Heinz Holliger, Helmut Lachenmann and Lucia Ronchetti as well as Stefan Asbury, Lucas Vis and Michael Wendeberg are regular guests.
Directors of the MA IEMA CoMP program
- Prof. Dr. Ulrich Kreppein
- Prof. Esa Tapani
- Dietmar Wiesner (Ensemble Modern)
- Jagdish Mistry (Ensemble Modern)
Concerts, festivals, networks
The IEMA ensemble presents the results of its work in around 30 concerts a year at home and abroad, including at renowned festivals such as the Wittener Tage für Neue Kammermusik, the Gaudeamus Muziekweek and the Kurt Weill Fest Dessau. International performance opportunities also arise through the "Ulysses Network", of which the IEMA has been a partner since 2012 alongside 13 other European music institutions. The Kunststiftung NRW has been a key funding partner of the course since its inception. Thanks to its and other funding, every place on the course has been endowed with a scholarship to date.
