About Collegium Novum Zuerich

The Collegium Novum Zurich, founded in 1993, has devoted itself to the presentation of contemporary music in concerts with a high standard of performance. The group places great importance on a close cooperation with composers. As a flexible ensemble of soloists, the personnel of the group can vary according to instrumental requirements, ranging from solo chamber music to an ensemble with about 20 musicians. The Collegium Novum Zurich, in cooperation with other institutions, maintains its own series of concerts in Zurich. In addition to concert cycles devoted to individual composers, such as Hans Werner Henze, Mauricio Kagel, Arvo Pärt, and Sofia Gubaidulina, the ensemble has offered series featuring Austrian and Italian music, about 20th century music’s response to Hölderlin, the interaction of vision and hearing, musical “recycling processes,” and about music and theater. They have presented numerous first performances of works by, among others, Frangis Ali-Sade, Beat Furrer, Georg Friedrich Haas, Hans Werner Henze, Klaus Huber, Michael Jarrell, Mischa Käser, Rudolf Kelterborn, Christoph Neidhöfer, Giorgio Netti, Helmut Oehring, Hilda Paredes, Felix Profos, Annette Schmucki, and Nadir Vassena. The ensemble has played under the direction of Pierre Boulez, Friedrich Cerha, Mark Foster, Beat Furrer, Howard Griffiths, Peter Hirsch, Heinz Holliger, Mauricio Kagel, Johannes Kalitzke, Roland Kluttig, Susanne Mälkki, Zsolt Nagy, Pascal Rophé, Peter Rundel, and Jürg Wyttenbach. In addition to their appearances in Zurich, the group maintains an international schedule, performing, for example, at the Lucerne Festival, the Salzburg Festival, the Chamber Music Festival in Witten, the Wien modern festival, Festival UltraSchall in Berlin, the New Music Days in Zurich, the Brusselles Ars Musica Festival, and the Schwetzingen Festival.