Alva Noto: XERROX VOL.4 – Ensemble Modern Version (arrangiert von Max Knoth)

Ensemble Modern, Alva Noto (Electronics), Simon Mayer (Video), Matthias Rieker (Lichtdesign), Norbert Ommer (Klangregie), Big Cinema (Videoprojektion), Seehund Media (Konzertaufzeichnung)

Eine Produktion des Ensemble Modern.
Gefördert durch die Adolf und Luisa Haeuser-Stiftung fur Kunst- und Kulturpflege.

In 2020 Carsten Nicolai, alias Alva Noto, composed the fourth part of his XERROX cycle, which is conceived as a pentalogy. After XERROX Vol. 1 (2007), Vol. 2 (2009) and Vol. 3 (2015) Nicolai travels further along his Xerrox journey with XERROX Vol. 4.

Based on the concept of the digital replication of source material, the Xerrox project addresses the manipulation of data (melodies) by means of endless reproduction. So this is a production process that makes copies from copies and changes the sounds so drastically that they can hardly be related back to the original material. Thus a spectrum of completely new sounds is created: copies of the originals become originals in their own right.

The idea of a reworked version with an instrumental cast has been maintained since the release of the first volume. Following the great success of the work utp_ (2007) Carsten Nicolai has continued to collaborate with Ensemble Modern and Max Knoth. XERROX Vol. 4 will be premiered within the framework of the 2021 Frankfurter Positionen.

Carsten Nicolai
(born in 1965 in Karl-Marx-Stadt) lives and works in Berlin. Inspired by scientific frames of reference, Nicolai’s interests include mathematical patterns such as grids and codes, defect and random structures as well as phenomena relating to self-organization. His engagement constantly crosses the boundaries between the different artistic genres.

Following his participation in documenta X (1997) and the 49th and 50th Biennale di Venezia (2001 and 2003), his works have been shown in national and international exhibitions at museums and galleries of renown. There have been comprehensive solo shows at the Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt am Main (anti reflex, 2005), the Neue Nationalgalerie Berlin (syn chron, 2005), CAC, Vilnius, Lithuania and the Pace Gallery New York (pionier, 2011), the Berlinische Galerie (tele, 2018), and the Kunstsammlungen Nordrhein-Westfalen/ K21 (parallax symmetry, 2019). Carsten Nicolai’s works have entered significant private and public collections. He is currently represented by Galerie EIGEN + ART Leipzig/Berlin and the Pace Gallery.

Nicolai has received numerous prizes and awards, including: Giga-Hertz-Preis (2012, with Ryoji Ikeda); Villa Massimo, Rome (2007); Zurich Art Prize (2007); Villa Aurora, Los Angeles (2003); Prix Ars Electronica (2000 and 2001, with Marko Peljhan); Grand Prize Japan Media Arts Festival (2014).

Ensemble Modern

Since the Ensemble Modern EM) was founded in 1980 it has become one of the leading ensembles for New Music. It brings together some 20 soloists from Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, India, Israel, Japan, the USA and Switzerland, whose backgrounds provide the cultural backdrop of the formation. The Ensemble is based in Frankfurt am Main and is known for its exceptional grassroots democratic organizational structure and manner of working. Artistic projects, partnerships and financial matters are decided together and collective responsibility is taken for them. Ensemble Modern’s uniquely broad repertoire includes music theatre, dance and video projects and chamber music, alongside ensemble and orchestral concerts. Tours and guest appearances take Ensemble Modern to festivals of renown and top venues all over the world, e.g. the Berliner Festspiele, Bregenzer Festspiele, Cité de la Musique, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Festival d'Automne à Paris, Hellerau Dresden, Holland Festival, Klangspuren Schwaz, Konzerthaus Berlin, Kölner Philharmonie, Kunstfestspiele Herrenhausen, Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ Amsterdam, Ruhrtriennale, Queen Elizabeth Hall London, Wien Modern and the Wigmore Hall London. In their home city, the Ensemble Modern performs at the Alte Oper Frankfurt, where it holds its own series of concerts for which season tickets are available.

Music theatre productions in collaboration with the Frankfurt opera house take place regularly as well as a workshop concert series “Happy New Ears”. Since 2011 Ensemble Modern has also cooperated with the hr-Sinfonieorchester (Hessen radio symphony orchestra) to organize the festival “cresc … Biennale für aktuelle Music Frankfurt Rhein Main”. Further collaborations and projects round off the multi-facetted profile of Ensemble Modern.

Some 70 works per annum are being created by Ensemble Modern in close collaboration with the respective composers and grounded in the aspiration to achieve the greatest possible authenticity; about 20 of these are premieres. This has led over the years to unusual and often prolonged collaborations. These include working together with John Adams, Mark Andre, George Benjamin, Peter Eötvös, Brian Ferneyhough, Heiner Goebbels, Hans Werner Henze, Mauricio Kagel, György Kurtág, Helmut Lachenmann, György Ligeti, Olga Neuwirth, Enno Poppe, Rebecca Saunders, Simon Steen-Andersen, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Steve Reich, Frank Zappa and Vito Žuraj, as well as exceptional artists from other genres.