The E-MEX Ensemble from Essen, Germany will be in residence at Colorado State University, giving a master class and concert. The visiting group will consist of organ, flute, percussion, and narrator/actor:

Matthias Geuting, organ
Evelin Degen, flute
Michael Pattmann, percussion
Günfer Cölgecen, actress

In addition to a concert of classic contemporary works for these instruments, there will be three world premieres: two pieces by CSU Professor Bryan Christian titled Either a River or a Brook and Direct Your Step Further Along the Road’s Course, and a new work by Philadelphia composer Kyle Bartlett.

PROGRAM

Bryan Christian (1984), Direct your step further along the road’s course*
Michel van der Aa (1970), Rekindle
Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928–2007), Vibra-Elufa
György Ligeti (1923–2006), Volumina, for organ
Nicolaus A. Huber (1939), Clash Music
Mauricio Kagel (1931–2008), Raga – Ragtime-Waltz – Rondeña
Kyle Bartlett (1971), Sleepwalker*
Bryan Christian (1984), Either a river or a brook*

* world premiere

MASTER CLASS SCHEDULE

Flute Masterclass with Evelin Degen
Monday, March 7, 10-10:50 a.m., Rm. G212

Percussion Masterclass with Michael Pattmann
Monday, March 7, 11-11:50 a.m., Instrumental Rehearsal Hall

Organ Masterclass with Matthias Geuting
Monday, March 7,  3-4 p.m., Organ Recital Hall

Acting masterclass with Günfer Cölgecen
Monday, March 7, 10 a.m. – 12 p.m., Acting Lab 242

BIOGRAPHY

The E-MEX Ensemble was founded in 1999 by six musicians from Cologne and the Ruhr in western Germany and has grown to be become one of the most exciting and independent voices in the new music scene in the greater Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region, one of the most densely populated and dynamic regions in Europe. Diverse cultural influences from around the world come together here serving as a wellspring for new musical ideas. E-MEX champions this diversity and embraces these influences as a defining force shaping the music of our time.

With projects ranging from large ensemble works to solo pieces, the ensemble’s core group of ten musicians has been the unifying factor that has over the years helped shape the ensemble’s distinctive personality and sound. E-MEX’s profile as an ensemble is intimately link to their encounters with other art forms taking their inspiration from a broad interdisciplinary perspective, and the ensemble has been a tireless advocate of this multidisciplinary approach by actively developing new concert forms that integrate visual arts, theater, literature and performance art.

In its quest to bring this perspective to a broader public, E-MEX is always looking to bring new music into novel spaces that help audiences break out of the familiar concert routine. In museums, galleries, churches and other settings where new listeners can be or young people can be to engage with new music early on, E-MEX has shown how rethinking the performance situation can really resonate with audiences.

Many contemporary composers cherish the close working relationship they have developed with E-MEX and the possibilities that such an intense collaboration opens up. The ensemble is regularly entrusted with the premieres of works by emerging and established composers, such as Cort Lippe, Henry Fourès, Guoping Jia, Xiaoyong Chen and Karin Haußmann. E-MEX is also committed to collaborations with the next generation of young composers, including projects with Bryan Christian and Kyle Bartlett.

Over the years the ensemble’s repertoire has grown to encompass more than 400 works running the gamut from small chamber formations to large ensembles. In addition to the large number of newly commissioned works that E-MEX has premiered, their repertoire includes a wide selection of modern classics such as works by Elliot Carter, Iannis Xenakis, Franco Donatoni, Gérard Grisey, Toshio Hosokawa, Salvatore Sciarrino or Helmut Lachenmann.

Concert tours and workshops have taken E-MEX throughout Europe, to North and South America as well as to Asia, especially several tours to China in recent years. Most recently E-MEX was invited to the Beijing Central Conservatory of Music to participate in the Beijing International Composition Workshop and other programs for students, composition faculty, musicologists and artist from across China.

The ensemble’s wide ranging artistic output arising out of its international partnerships has been documented in regular live-recordings produced and broadcast by public radio networks in Germany and a number of CD productions.

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