ARTIST

ARTIST

Klangforum Wien

Open-minded, virtuosic in performance and aurally perceptive, Klangforum Wien – one of the
internationally most renowned ensembles for contemporary music – devotes itself to the
artistic interpretation and expansion of experiential space. A performance of Klangforum Wien
is an event in the best sense of the word; it offers a sensual experience, immediate and
inescapable; and the novelty in its music speaks, acts and beguiles.

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Ever since it was founded by Beat Furrer in 1985, the ensemble – which, over the years, has
received a great number of awards and distinctions – has written music history: It has
presented around 600 world premieres of works by composers from four continents; it boasts
an extensive discography of more than 90 releases, and is part of the major music festivals in
Europe, America and Asia: Salzburg Festival, Wiener Festwochen, Wien Modern, Holland
Festival, Ruhrtriennale, Darmstadt, Donaueschingen, Biennale di Venezia, Festival d’Automne
Paris, and Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Warsaw Autumn among others. Klangforum Wien
frequently performs at the most important concert and opera venues such as the Wiener
Konzerthaus, Musikverein Wien, Pierre Boulez Saal (Berlin), Elbphilharmonie (Hamburg),
Muziekgebouw aan’t IJ (Amsterdam), Teatro alla Scala (Milan), Teatro Real (Madrid), Opéra
national de Paris, Library of Congress (Washington DC), Teatro Colón (Buenos Aires), Suntory
Hall (Tokyo), or Tongyeong Concert Hall. In a mutually rewarding collaboration with many of the
world’s leading composers, the ensemble has formed a great number of formative artistic
friendships, and it enjoys working with the most eminent conductors of our time – including
Sylvain Cambreling, Péter Eötvös, Pablo Heras-Casado, Susanna Mälkki, Ingo Metzmacher,
Kent Nagano, Matthias Pintscher, Emilio Pomàrico, Simone Young – as well as with leading
stage directors like Luc Bondy, Frank Castorf, Claus Guth, Jan Lauwers, Christoph Marthaler,
or Peter Sellars.
Since 2009, the musicians of Klangforum Wien have devoted themselves to sharing their
comprehensive mastery of playing techniques and forms of expression with a new generation of
artists in the context of their collective professorship at the University of Music, Graz.
Klangforum Wien is made up of 25 musicians from Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, Germany,
Finland, France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the
United States. From the start of the 2018/19 season until summer 2022, Bas Wiegers was
Klangforum Wien’s Principal Guest Conductor, taking over from Sylvain Cambreling who,
however, has maintained a close relationship with the ensemble as its Principal Guest
Conductor Emeritus. Per 1 January 2024, Elena Schwarz and Vimbayi Kaziboni serve as the
new Conductors in Residence. Peter Paul Kainrath has been the ensemble's director since 1
January 2020.
Klangforum Wien has its own annual concert series at the Wiener Konzerthaus. Every year, the
ensemble commissions composers and gives numerous world and territorial premieres. The
repertoire choice and the ensemble’s intense understanding of the pieces contribute to
diversity, and are matched by the flawless execution of the music.
Honorary members of Klangforum Wien are Georges Aperghis, Sylvain Cambreling, Friedrich
Cerha, Barbara Fränzen, Beat Furrer, Georg Friedrich Haas, Lothar Knessl, Bernhard Lang,
Olga Neuwirth, Peter Oswald, Enno Poppe, Rebecca Saunders, Salvatore Sciarrino.
PARTICIPATING PERFORMANCES

20250326

Tokyo Bunka Kaikan, Recital Hall

Klangforum Wien I
Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of Boulez & Berio's Birth

20250328

Tokyo Bunka Kaikan, Recital Hall

Klangforum Wien II
Celebrating the 200th Anniversary of J.Strauss II's Birth

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