Biography:
Sound Forum Vienna
An event to improve the world
24 musicians from ten countries embody an artistic idea and a personal attitude that give their art back what it gradually and almost unnoticed lost over the course of the 20th century: a place in its own time, in the present and in the middle of the community for which it is composed and by which it wants to be heard.
Since its first concert, which was played by the ensemble as "Société de l'Art Acoustique" under the musical direction of its founder Beat Furrer in the Palais Liechtenstein, Klangforum Wien has unexpectedly written a chapter in music history: around 500 compositions by composers from three The ensemble premiered Continenten and thus translated their musical notation into sound for the first time. Klangforum Wien could look back on a discography of more than 70 CDs, on a number of prizes and awards and on 2000 performances in the first concert and opera houses in Europe, America and Japan, at the big festivals as well as in young committed initiatives, if looking back would be his business.
Over the years, deep artist friendships have grown with outstanding composers, conductors, soloists, directors and dedicated programmers. They have a share in the profile of Klangforum Wien, just as the latter in turn supported and shaped their work. In recent years, individual members as well as the ensemble as a whole have increasingly endeavored to pass on forms of expression and playing techniques to a new generation of instrumentalists and composers. Since 2009, the Klangforum Wien has been able to call itself »Professor« in corpore due to a teaching assignment from the University of Art in Graz.
All of this would remain superficial if it weren't the result of the will of an artist collective, which is constantly redefined in the monthly meetings of all the musicians in the ensemble, for whom music is ultimately just an expression of ethos and knowledge of one's own responsibility for the present and future.
And just like art itself, the Klangforum Wien is nothing more than an event for the betterment of the world, only very makeshift disguised by its metier. When they step onto the podium, the musicians of the ensemble know that it's all about one thing: everything. Eros and the absoluteness of this knowledge are what make Klangforum Wien concerts so special.
Anyone who would like to be served with numbers, data and facts about the history of the ensemble is welcome to download them www.klangforum.at to read. For a short biography of the ensemble, however, it seemed right to us to try to sketch the inner being of Klangforum Wien, contrary to a convention that is more bound to statistics.
Klangforum Wien members come from Australia, Bulgaria, Germany, Finland, France, Greece, Italy, Austria, Sweden and Switzerland. Sylvain Cambreling, Friedrich Cerha and Beat Furrer are the three outstanding musicians who, over the course of its 25-year history, have been awarded honorary membership by the Klagforum Wien by unanimous decision of all musicians. Sylvain Cambreling has been Principal Guest Conductor of Klangforum Wien since 1997.
© Klangforum Vienna
Albums:
Donaueschingen Music Days 2019:
Donaueschingen Music Days 2018:
Donaueschingen Music Days 2016:
Darmstadt Aural Documents Box 3 Ensembles:
Donaueschingen Music Days 2014:
