Music

Ensemble intercontemporain was founded in 1976 by the late French composer and conductor Pierre Boulez, rising to become one of the world’s most revered groups specialising in contemporary music, and the first permanent ensemble of its kind.

The group’s dexterous musicians deliver their 20th and 21st-century repertoire with authoritative “clarity and precision”, according to the Financial Times. Now helmed by music director and conductor Matthias Pintscher, they continue to explore fresh realms, premièring innovative compositions, extending technique, and performing challenging works requiring exceptional skills.

In this long-overdue Hong Kong début, the Ensemble performs Schoenberg’s revolutionary Chamber Symphony No. 1, also a source of inspiration for Ligeti’s densely constructed Chamber Concerto. Donatoni’s Tema, one of the group’s favourites, is a powerful organic work, recycling certain materials from the composer’s previous work in line with his perspective that each piece is linked to the next in a continuous oeuvre. The programme also features newer pieces, including Les Danses interrompues by Mantovani, Whirling Tissue of Light by Pintscher, and Lachrymae by Hong Kong composer Charles Kwong.