In 2012/13, the Studio Musikfabrik Southeast Asia tour highlighted the cultural value of contemporary music youth ensembles, and gave the first impulse on an international level – the Asean contemporary music ensemble (ACME) was formed after this inspiring encounter. In October last year, Studio Musikfabrik traveled to Chicago to work with the musicians of the Youth Ensemble of the Chicago Arts Initiative (CAI) and the Ensemble 20+ of the DePaul University School of Music.
The impetus for the founding of the CAI’s youth contemporary music ensemble was the lasting impression made by Studio Musikfabrik’s performance as the first German youth ensemble to participate in the 2012 Darmstadt Summer Courses. A long-term cooperation between Studio Musikfabrik and the Youth Ensemble was planned, with the primary aim to jointly create and develop their own musical compositions. The plan was finalised mid-2015 through exchanges between the musicians via the Internet. The virtual artistic collaboration on the compositions was continued during Studio Musikfabrik’s stay in Chicago. The results were presented at the 1st International Youth New Music Festival in Chicago, in addition to repertoire works by Harrison Birtwistle, Dieter Mack and Misato Mochizuki, which had been prepared by Studio Musikfabrik to be performed with the musicians of Ensemble 20+ under the direction of Peter Veale.
The interest of the American students in the work of Studio Musikfabrik was large: numerous music students from DePaul University attended the joint rehearsals with Ensemble 20+ to professionally exchange with the musicians.
During the first direct rehearsals with the musicians of the Youth Ensemble of the CAI, the musicians of Studio Musikfabrik got to experience the ambitious and inspiring character of their experimental work, which made for an intensive musical exchange. In addition to the artistic development of their joint musical compositions, the young musicians benefited in a special way from the cultural exchange with one another. Peter Veale, director of Studio Musikfabrik, sees in it a chance: “The Youth Ensemble of the Chicago Arts Initiative is an incredible asset, because they focus on other priorities. They compose and create complete works themselves. Working without written music is a challenge for Studio Musikfabrik that requires above all a special personal initiative in order to become a part of the process. To be able to participate in such a cooperation, and to compose new pieces is a fantastic experience.”
It quickly became clear just what kind of diverse artistic input was being offered the Studio Musikfabrik musicians, and how impressive the time together was for all of the participating young musicians – as well as for the directors of the ensembles. The directors could discuss with each other their individual working methods and develop further the focus of their pedagogical and artistic priorities. Last but not least, through the professional leadership that provided enormous artistic development opportunities for the young musicians, the results of the focus on the repertoire works with the Ensemble 20+, and the new musical compositions with the Youth Ensemble of the CAI were presented together in concert.
The 1st International Youth New Music Festival in Chicago proved a success and left a lasting impression on the audience, which included members of DePaul University, representatives of the Goethe Institute in Chicago, German cultural institutions and other interested visitors, the musicians and all those involved in the project. The musicians were continuing their work together in the last months via the Internet and met again at the 48th International Summer Courses for New Music in Darmstadt. During the last days of intensive rehearsals, the developed pieces will be presented in a workshop concert to a specialist audience on the 6th August and at Studio of Ensemble Musikfabrik on the 7th August.