![[Translate to Anglais:] Ensemble Contemporain de l'HEMU](https://www.hemu.ch/fileadmin/documents/Ensemble_Contemporain_HEMU.jpg "[Translate to Anglais:] Ensemble Contemporain de l'HEMU")
HEMU Contemporary Ensemble
Created in 2003, the Ensemble Contemporain de l'HEMU - Haute École de Musique has become an important player in the musical life of French-speaking Switzerland over the years, thanks in particular to its regular collaboration with the Société de Musique Contemporaine (SMC Lausanne). Its mission is to help HEMU students explore the rich repertoire of the last fifty years, under the guidance of specialists in this music and often the composers themselves, in contemporary workshops that now punctuate the academic year. It is increasingly recognised by a growing number of partners throughout Switzerland, and even in neighbouring France, for the quality of its performances.
The Ensemble Contemporain de l'HEMU was created for a series of concerts devoted to the composer Toshio Hosokawa. This opportunity was offered to the school by the Berne Biennale, which hosted its first concerts. Made up of instrumentalists studying for a Master's degree at the HEMU, the ensemble has a variable geometry, enabling it to explore a wide repertoire ranging from 1950 to the present day. The preparatory work is generally carried out under the direction of a group of specialist teachers (or guest performers and composers) and leads to a number of professional-level concerts in Switzerland and abroad.
Thanks to the quality of its performances, the Ensemble is recognised by a large number of partners, including the Lemanic Modern Ensemble, the Ensemble Contrechamps and the Festival Archipel. It also collaborates regularly with RTS-Espace 2, the Cinémathèque Suisse, the ZHdK Zurich, the HEM in Geneva and the Scène régionale Château Rouge in Annemasse.
The long list of leading composers played by the ensemble since 2003 (very often in direct collaboration with them) constitutes a veritable primer on contemporary creation over the last fifty years: Dieter Ammann, Luciano Berio, George Benjamin, Oscar Bianchi, Pierluigi Billone, William Blank, Pierre Boulez, John Cage, Elliott Carter, Georges Crumb, Luigi Dallapiccola, Xavier Dayer, Pascal Dusapin, Morton Feldman, Ivan Fedele, Francesco Filidei, Beat Furrer, Stefano Gervasoni, Vinko Globokar, Sofia Gubaidulina, Jonathan Harvey, Heinz Holliger, Toshio Hosokawa, Klaus Huber, Michael Jarrell, Tom Johnson, Betsy Jolas, Mauricio Kagel, György Kurtag, Hanspeter Kyburz, Helmut Lachenmann, György Ligeti, Witold Lutoslawski, Yan Maresz, Tristan Murail, Isabel Mundry, Luis Naón, Kristof Penderecki, Matthias Pintscher, Wolfgang Rihm, Giacinto Scelsi, Alessandro Solbiati, Toru Takemitsu, Edgard Varèse, Iannis Xenakis, Isang Yun, Agata Zubel. The composer in residence for the 2024-2025 season is Noriko Baba from Japan.
To mark its tenth anniversary, the Ensemble Contemporain de l'HEMU has released on DVD a documentary film entitled ‘Passeurs de sons’, made in the wake of the Lemanic Modern Academy 2012, devoted to the premiere of Gong, the ultimate work by Swiss composer Eric Gaudibert.
Composer and conductor William Blank has been its artistic and musical director since its creation. Following his retirement, Guillaume Bourgogne will become the ensemble's artistic director.
Artistic and musical direction: Guillaume Bourgogne
Artistic director: Thomas Dobler
Piano, composition and arrangements : Uri Caine
In partnership with the Cully Jazz Festival
Cully Jazz Festival tent, Cully, April 2025
Artistic director: Guillaume Bourgogne
Composer: Noriko Baba
Soloist, Noh voice: Ryoko Aoki
In partnership with Théâtre 2.21
Théâtre 2.21, Lausanne, February 2025
Artistic director: Guillaume Bourgogne
Composer: Noriko Baba
In partnership with the Société de Musique Contemporaine de Lausanne (SMC)
HEMU and Conservatoire de Lausanne, Salle Utopia 1, November 2024