European Ensemble Academy

In this "European Ensemble Academy", young musicians from several European countries will have the opportunity to perform together in three ensembles under the direction of top-class instructors. The ensembles, featuring contemporary electronic music, European jazz, and pop and rock, will be joined by a fourth ensemble that will form a link between the three other musical styles, and in so doing, create a new musical language.
Along with music students from Germany, the German Music Council, in association with its international partner institutions, will also select young musicians from Portugal and Slovenia to participate in the Academy. Portugal and Slovenia will succeed Germany as EU Council President in the coming years and, therefore, will receive special consideration in the development of this project. The German Music Council would like the Academy to become a long-term cultural event tied to future EU Council presidencies.

The European Ensemble Academy will establish the following ensembles:

a) "ensemble perspektiv" for contemporary music,
Artistic director: Maurizio Kagel
b) "Jazz Goes Ahead!" - European Movement Jazz Orchestra,
Artistic director: Manfred Schoof
c) "basement pop", "EINSHOCH6" (Germany), "WET BED" (Slowenia), "FADO" (Portugal) Artistic director: Udo Dahmen
d) "ensemble 07" as a cross-genre ensemble

Ten to twelve musicians will be chosen from the first three ensembles to form the "ensemble 07". Together, they will rehearse new pieces by various composers into which the musical styles of the three original ensembles will be equally integrated.
At the Academy, all the ensembles will develop concert programmes which they will perform on tour through Europe. From March 24 to April 1 and from April 25 to April 28, 2007, the four ensembles will travel as ambassadors through Europe and perform concerts in Berlin, Bremen, Cologne, Lisbon, Ljubljana, Zagreb, and - in commemoration of the Treaty of Rome signed fifty years ago - in Rome and the Vatican. The concerts will be produced in cooperation with local organizers and the Goethe-Institut.