Ensemble intercontemporain

In 1976, Pierre Boulez founded the Ensemble intercontemporain with the support of Michel Guy who was the Minister of Culture of France at the time and the collaboration of Nicholas Snowman. The Ensemble's soloists share a passion for 20th to 21st century music, enabling them to fulfill the major aims of the Ensemble: performance, creation and education for young musicians and the general public.

Under the artistic direction of Matthias Pintscher, the musicians work in close collaboration with composers, exploring instrumental techniques and developing projects that interweave music, dance, theatre, film, video and visual arts. New pieces are commissioned and performed on a regular basis. In collaboration with Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique (IRCAM), the Ensemble is also active in the field of synthetic sound generation.

Resident of the Philharmonie de Paris, the Ensemble performs and records in France and other countries, taking part in major festivals worldwide. The Ensemble is financed by the Ministry of Culture and Communication of France and receives additional support from the Paris City Council.

Matthias Pintscher Music Director/Conductor

Matthias Pintscher is the Music Director of the Ensemble intercontemporain, entering his third season in 2015/16. Equally accomplished as conductor and composer, Pintscher sees his two main spheres of activity as entirely complementary.

In the 2015/16 season, Pintscher makes conducting debuts with the Berliner Philharmoniker, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and the Prague Philharmonia. Beginning in 2016/17, Pintscher takes up the post as Principal Conductor of the Lucerne Festival Academy. Pintscher works regularly with leading contemporary music ensembles such as the Ensemble Modern, Klangforum Wien, Ensemble Contrechamps, Avanti! Chamber Orchestra, Remix Ensemble and the Scharoun Ensemble.

Pintscher may justly be called the most sought-after German composer of his generation and his music is championed by some of today's finest performing artists, orchestras and conductors. His works are frequently performed by orchestras such as the Cleveland Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, The Philadelphia Orchestra, Berliner Philharmoniker, London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestre de Paris. Since September 2014, Pintscher joined the composition faculty at The Juilliard School.