Photo Raphaëlle Müller © Archipel 2014
The Ensemble Contemporain de l'HEMU (Lausanne's University of Music) was created in 2003 as part of a portrait in the shape of several concerts dedicated to the composer Toshio Hosokawa. The Bern Biennale proposed this programme to the Lausanne Conservatory, who hosted the Ensemble's first concerts. Made up of musicians working on a Master of Arts in musical interpretation at the Lausanne School of Music, the Ensemble is geometrically variable, enabling the group to explore in depth a repertoire that stretches from 1950 to the present day. Usually, preparatory work is carried out under the supervision of a group of specialist professors (or musicians or guest composers) and leads to numerous concerts performed in both Switzerland and elsewhere. The composer and conductor William Blank has
been in charge of the Ensemble's artistic direction since its beginnings. The Ensemble plays a significant role in musical culture in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, in particular due to their regular work with the Société de Musique Contemporaine de Lausanne (SMC) seasons. Their quality is recognised by a growing number of partners, including the Festival Archipel and the Bern Biennale, not forgetting Radio Suisse Romande Espace 2. To date, the Ensemble has performed numerous prominent works at their concerts, mostly in partnership with the composers: Michael Jarrell, Éric Gaudibert, Klaus Huber, William Blank, György Kurtag, Stefano Gervasoni, Isabel Mundry, Betsy Jolas, Xavier Dayer, Luis Naón, Tristan Murail, Jonathan Harvey, Sofia Goubaïdoulina, Ivan Fedele and more recently Wolfgang Rihm, Helmut Lachenmann and Heinz Holliger.
