HAINBACH & ENSEMBLE MODERN

The Berlin-based composer and performer of electronic music Hainbach first collaborated with Ensemble Modern in the autumn of 2022, during its experimental series Checkpoint.
On March 7, 2025, Ensemble Modern and Hainbach released the vinyl album Primer on Ensemble Modern Media. It is the first vinyl album produced by the Ensemble’s own label. The experimental artist and YouTuber Hainbach uses nuclear research equipment and magnetic tape loops to create ever shifting electronic compositions.
“Primer,” Haibach says, “is both a live show and an interpretation of a live show. Everything that can be heard here was recorded during the ›Checkpoint‹ concert in Frankfurt when the Ensemble and I performed together for the first time. At the studio, I got together with EM’s double bass player Paul Cannon, and we took the recording apart. We wanted it to sound like a record, not like the broadcast of a live show, so we cut and pasted, using echoes and modulators until we had found a sound and an intensity which represented what ›Primer‹ is: a starting signal, a bolt of lightning, the start of something that will hopefully remain”
On March 9, 2025, Ensemble Modern and Hainbach meet again, presenting the world premiere Übersetzungsverstärker – Eco della Traduzione (2022/2025) at the subscription concert at the Alte Oper Frankfurt. In this work, tape loops are literally operated as they pass by, and the ensemble responds live to the sounds that wander through the space, sometimes flat and meditative, sometimes with punctual accents, and reacts to the musical “holes” and “niches.”

Since its founding in 1980, Ensemble Modern has been among the leading New Music ensembles. It currently unites 18 soloists from Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, India, Japan, Switzerland and the USA, illustrating the culturally diverse background of the ensemble. Resident in Frankfurt am Main, the ensemble is known for its unique democratic organisation and working method. Artistic projects, partnerships and financial matters are decided and implemented jointly. Its unique and distinctive programming includes musical theatre works, dance and multimedia projects, chamber music, ensemble and orchestral concerts. Tours and guest appearances have taken it to the most renowned festivals and distinguished performance venues, such as the Acht Brücken Festival Cologne, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Festival d’Automne à Paris, Festival d’Avignon, Berliner Festspiele, Bregenzer Festspiele, Donaueschingen Festival, Holland Festival, Klangspuren Schwaz, KunstFestSpiele Herrenhausen, ManiFeste Paris, November Music in ’s-Hertogenbosch, Ruhrtriennale, steirischer herbst Graz, Transart Festival Bolzano, Ultima Oslo, Warsaw Autumn, Wien Modern or Witten Days of New Chamber Music. The Frankfurt-based ensemble frequently performs at major national and international venues such as Berlin Philharmonie, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Muziekgebouw Amsterdam, Konzerthaus Berlin, Hellerau Dresden, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Kölner Philharmonie, London’s Wigmore Hall and Southbank Centre, as well as the Cité de la Musique in Paris.
Its work is characterised by extraordinary and often long-term cooperative ventures with renowned artists, such as John Adams, Mark Andre, George Benjamin, Unsuk Chin, Peter Eötvös, Brian Ferneyhough, Heiner Goebbels, Hans Werner Henze, Heinz Holliger, Mauricio Kagel, György Kurtág, Helmut Lachenmann, György Ligeti, Cathy Milliken, Brigitta Muntendorf, Olga Neuwirth, Enno Poppe, Wolfgang Rihm, Rebecca Saunders, Iris ter Schiphorst, Simon Steen-Andersen, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Steve Reich, Mark-Anthony Turnage, Frank Zappa, Hans Zender or Vito Žuraj, as well as outstanding artist personalities from other artistic genres. Further cooperations and projects round out the multi-faceted profile of Ensemble Modern.
The ensemble strives to achieve the highest possible degree of authenticity by working closely with the composers themselves. The musicians rehearse an average of 70 new works every year, 20 of which are world premieres. Since 2000 Ensemble Modern has run its own label, Ensemble Modern Media, which has released around 150 productions, many in cooperation with hr2-kultur. Additional recordings have been issued by other labels such as col legno, ECM Records, NEOS Music, Sony Music and Wergo. In 2024, Ensemble Modern was awarded the Silver Lion of the Biennale Musica di Venezia.

Based out of Berlin, Germany, electro-acoustic composer Hainbach (Stefan Paul Goetsch) creates experimental music that is both visceral and whimsical. Using esoteric synthesizers, test equipment and magnetic tape he creates “one hell of a trip” in his live sets and recorded music. He shares techniques on experimental music on his YouTube channel, which has attracted an ever growing audience of more than 200000 subscribers and almost 20 Million views, with several videos going viral. His body of work includes film soundtracks, pop productions, chamber music, theater music, sound art installations and music software.

Hainbach: Tape Loops, Electronics

Ensemble Modern:
Dietmar Wiesner, flute
Johannes Schwarz, bassoon
Sava Stoianov, trumpet
Hermann Kretzschmar, piano
David Haller, percussion
Megumi Kasakawa, viola
Michael M. Kasper, violoncello
Paul Cannon, double bass