Ensemble Phorminx was formed in 1993 by a group musicians and composers in DARMSTADT.
In their work they prefer intensive cooperation directly with composers. They have performed about 150 world premieres in recent years. Ensemble Phorminx has performed in several festivals.(Frankfurt Feste , Schleswig - Holstein - Musikfestival, Internationale Darmstaedter Ferienkurse, Rainy Days Festival Luxembourg, Heidelberger Frühling, Contemporary Music Week Seoul) Ensemble Phorminx offer three concert series in Frankfurt/M, Darmstadt and Tuebingen. They have taken part in many productions with major german radio stations. Some CD’s are available . One of them was awarded the Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik ( award of the german cd-critics), a prestigious German music prize. Two cd´s have even appeared with works of Helmut Lachenmann and a book with cd with works of Adriana Hoelszky, Nicolaus A. Huber, Volker Blumenthaler, Benjamin Schweizer and Jan Kopp 2011 Darmstadt Music Award
Stephen Altoft
Stephen Altoft is dedicated to the creation of new repertoire for the trumpet. As a solo artist with electronics, and with percussionist Lee Ferguson as duo Contour, he has given concerts throughout Europe, the United States and Canada. He is a member of ensemble chronophonie (Freiburg) and ensemble linea (Strasbourg), and has played with the Kammersinfonie Berlin, the Cornelius Cardew Ensemble, ensemble Courage, the Dresdner Sinfoniker, Collegium Novum Brass (Zurich), Klangforum Wien, Slowind Wind Quintet, SUONO MOBILE and the Karlsruhe Conservatory Trumpet Class under the direction of Rheinhold Friedrich. More recently, he was trumpeter in the Music theatre production, "Niebla" by Elena Mendoza and Matthias Rebstock at the Festspielhaus, Dresden, Berlin Konzerthaus and Teatro del Canal, Madrid. Stephen studied at the University of Huddersfield (1991-5) where he was awarded B.Mus Honours and Masters degrees (in performance) and the Ricordi Prize for Contemporary Performance. This was followed by periods of private study with Markus Stockhausen (Cologne 1996-8) and, with assistance from the Music Sound Foundation, with William Forman (Berlin 1998-1999).
Between 2001-2, Stephen was a consultant for the Centre for New Musical Instruments, London, where he tested a prototype microtonal trumpet. During this time he began working on a microtonal trumpet manual with composer, Donald Bousted, available at www.microtonaltrumpet.com as an online resource. After further research, Stephen developed, in collaboration with Johannes Radeke and Siegmar Fischer (Musik Gillhaus) in Freiburg, Germany, a fourth (rotary) valve mechanism to enable the conversion of his existing trumpets into microtonal instruments (a 19-division B flat trumpet and quarter-tone C trumpet).
In 2009 and 2010 Stephen has been trumpeter (ensemble linea) on the Royaumont Composition Courses in France, where he has worked alongside Brian Ferneyhough, Isabel Mundry, Misato Mochizuki and Liza Lim.
Stephen has recorded for radio and televison (SWR, WDR, Deutschlandfunk Köln, Deutschland Radio in Germany, BBC Radio 3 in the UK, French Radio and Bulgarian National Television) and for the Budapest Music Center (Peter Eötvös), Microtonal Projects and Wergo labels (Elena Mendoza). Recent solo performances include at the American Festival of Microtonal Music in New York and at the New England Conservatory in Boston, as part of Boston Microtonal Society's 'Bending Brass' event.
Daegu MBC Symphony Orchestra
Daegu MBC Symphony Orchestra (DMSO) was founded in April 2012 with the aim of enhancing the value of cultural-brand as well as to expand the basis of the local classic by providing cultural enjoyment to the local people. By inviting first class musicians from in and out of the country as to provide a high-class performance, it now has grown as an orchestra that is beloved by Daegu citizens.
DMSO has shown true orchestra music from Mozart, Beethoven to Dvorak, Tchaikovsky, Brahms in 2012/2013 season. It has also been putting efforts as ‘cultural–preacher’ for the disadvantaged groups of the local area by giving them opportunities to experience art.
It is now in preparation for regular concerts that is to be held 6 times annually as well as 3 times of MBC soloists concerts. It is planning to provide the citizens with more various and diverse concerts.
Modern Ensemble
Seoul Modern Ensemble (SME) is a group
of soloists pecialized in performing contemporary classical music. The members are Sun-Min Shim ercussionist),
Soyeon Kang (pianist), Woon Young Kang (violinist), Hanaru Yoo (cellist), Sung
Soo Hong (clarinetist) and Hyeokjin Moon (oboist). The SME has been performing
actively since its first concert in collaboration with a music composition
coterie (Nuovo Nota) in June of 2012.
The SME was founded in the pursuit of -
(i) being a driving-force of music performance to encourage the creativity of
composers, as opposed to conventional paradigms in which presentation of work
was typically motivated by a coterie of composers and (ii) introducing
contemporary classical music to the general audience through its efforts of
actively communicating with the public. With these goals, the SME has given several
concerts including:‘War and Peace’ – Nuovo Nota series 1
(Sejong Center for the performing arts), performance at its founding in June,
2012. Narrative music concert for the youth in
summer vacation (Youngsan Art Hall) in August, 2012 ‘Baroque meets Modern’ – Nuovo Nota
Series II (Seongnam Arts Center ), the 2nd regular concert in November, 2012. ‘Solo Virtuoso’ - Nuovo Nota Series III
(Seoul Arts Ceneter IBK Chamber Hall), the 3rd regular concert on September
17th, 2013. These concerts were well received by
many audiences, demonstrating the possibility of achieving the aspirations of
SME. Consequently, the SME presented recently encore performances in Kwangju (U.
Square Kumho Art Hall) and Taegu (Suseong Artpia), which was unprecedented as a
contemporary classical music ensemble in the country. These encore concerts
were very successful. Based on these great achievements, the SME has been
taking the lead actively in interacting with various provinces in addition to
Seoul. The SME is going to give
performances at the contemporary music festivals, including PAN MUSIC FESTIVAL
(Oct 28, 2013) and Daegu International Contemporary Music Festival (June 24-26,
2014).
DCMF Ensemble
DCMF Ensemble is an active performing group for Daegu International Contemporary Music Festival, which is hosted by 'Young Artist's Meeting'. It was founded in 2009 for young regional musicians in their 20s and 30s to make the creative and unique sound. They will extend the repertoire from pure classical music to modern creative music with their own innovative musical sense and their passion in music. With Minkyung Yun(Pf. leader) as a key role, the members are Hyunji Kim(Fl.), Minji Kim(Cl.), Bora Kim(Vn.), Hyeryeong Kim(Vn.), Minjoung Choi(Va.), Soyoung Oh(Vc.), Hyosun Lee(D.B.).
