ENSEMBLE PHOENIX BASEL

http://www.ensemble-phoenix.ch/

The Ensemble Phoenix Basel is a group of 25 musicians dedicated to performing contemporary music. The founder and conductor of the ensemble, Jürg Henneberger (presently president of the IGNM Basel), has for many years been regarded as a specialist conductor for contemporary music. Like Henneberger, each of the individual members of the ensemble has cultivated renowned careers and years of experience in the field of contemporary music. Prior to the formation of Ensemble Phoenix, musicians from the group worked collectively with several institutions such as IGNM Basel and Theatre Basel. In these early years the collective was often referred to as Ensemble der IGNM Basel. At this time Ensemble der IGNM performed a wide range of productions such as The Unanswered Question by Marthaler and Hennerberger and Der Mündliche Verrat by Kagel.

In 1998, conductor Jürg Henneberger and a core group of musicians formed Ensemble Phoenix as an independent entity from the institutions they had been working with. In this way the ensemble was able to more fully support the needs of the rapidly growing contemporary music scene in Basel. The city has an unusually high number of contemporary music composers, musicians and sound makers – partly due to the excellent infrastructure it has around music culture, which attracts artists and students from around the world. 

Ensemble Phoenix gave its first concert at the Basler Theater on December 12, 1998. Works from B. A. Zimmermann, Harrison Birtwistle and Christoph Delz were on the program. The concert was recorded live by Swiss Radio DRS II and received wide acclaim by the press. Since the breakthrough success of Phoenix’s first season, the ensemble has maintained its commitment to presenting contemporary music locally in Basel, nationally in Switzerland, and internationally at a wide range of arts festivals worldwide. The ensemble has also remained steadfast in supporting the creation and composition of new works by established and emerging composers, and has always endeavored to present these works in ways that are accessible to audiences.