The European Modern Orchestra is an continuation of the Bridges project initiated in 2003. The European Modern Orchestra consisted of internationally prepared concerts performed together by musicians from the project co-organisers countries. The newly formed Muzyka Centrum Orchestra based in Cracow joined their forces with young musicians from Algoritmo Ensemble (Italy), Das Neue Ensemble (Germany) and Grame (France). Each co-production concert was led by a conductor from the project co-organiser country and included soloists from Italy, France, Germany and Poland.
The project started with Contemporary Italian Music Days in Cracow (11-17 December, 2005). The programme consisted of carefully selected works by most important Italian composers of the post II World War period such as Battistelli, Berio, Castiglioni, Clementi, Fedele, Lombardi, Nono, Scelsi, Sciarrino, Stroppa and others. Most of the works were first Polish performances. The young Cracow musicians performed together with Italians under the direction of conductor Marco Angius and with Alvise Vidolin as sound projectionist. The other concerts presented top Italian and Polish new music performers: flutists Mario Caroli and Roberto Fabbriciani, Algoritmo Ensemble from Rome, singer Agata Zubel from Wroclaw, oboe player Mariusz Pędziałek and Camerata Silesia singers ensemble from Katowice.
On 30 April, 2006 Muzyka Centrum Orchestra performed in Hannover together with Das Neue Ensemble under conductor Stephan Meier and with German and Polish soloists The programme included, among other, first performance of Concerto for Clarinet and Two Ensembles written especially for the European Modern Orchestra project by Bogusław Schaeffer. The concert was repeated in Cracow on 28 September, 2006.
On 7 May, 2006 Muzyka Centrum-Grame co-production concert took place in Cracow. The programe included, among other, works commissioned by Grame with Franck Bedrossian, Pedro Amaral and Robert Pascal. Young musicians had the occasion to perform with the world leading new music viola player Christophe Desjardins. The concert with a slightly changed programme was repeated in Lyon on 22 October, 2006.
The concert with Salvatore Sciarrino’s masterpiece “Quaderno di strada” at the Warsaw Autumn Festival on September 25 was considered by many critics and a large part of public the best concert of the Festival which for 50 years has been considered as one of most important new music events in Europe, The work was played by joined forces of Muzyka Centrum Orchestra and Algoritmo Ensemble with conductor Marco Angius and baritone singer Otto Katzamaier. At the same Festival the Cracow performance of Luigi Nono’s “Das atmende Klarsein”, which took place at the Italian Days in December, 2005, was repeated with the Camerata Silesia (Poland), Roberto Fabbriciani and Alvise Vidolin (Italy) and the collaboration of the musicians found its continuation with the performance of the same work in the Italian Feltre (29 October, 2006) and the further planned performances.
The project gave the young musicians from the project co-organisers countries a chance to perform together with Europe’a most outstanding musicians and the artistic results achieved were praised in reviews of the project events. What we consider as the project biggest success is that international co-production of high quality new music performances started by the “European Modern Orchestra” project will find its continuation in the future.