Silver Lion at the Biennale Musica di Venezia

Ensemble Modern wins the Silver Lion at the Biennale Musica di Venezia 2024. The Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement has been awarded to the composer Rebecca Saunders. On September 26, Ensemble Modern opens the festival at the Teatro la Fenice together with the Orchestra del Teatro under the baton of Tito Ceccherini, performing Rebecca Saunders' ›Wound‹. On September 28, Ensemble Modern appears at the Teatro Piccolo Arsenale under the baton of Bas Wiegers, performing ›Skull‹ by Rebecca Saunders; both will be Italian premieres. The awards ceremony for the Golden Lion and the Silver Lion will be held on September 27 and 29 respectively at the Sala delle Colonne at Ca’ Giustinian, the headquarters of La Biennale, during the 68th International Festival of Contemporary Music (September 26 to October 11).

Ensemble Modern, which has been performing since 1985 at the Biennale Musica di Venezia, is being honoured – thus Lucia Ronchetti, director of the Music Department – »for the fearless and courageous creation of musical projects in collaboration with the most interesting and acknowledged composers and performers in the fields of media and different musical languages. In its 44 years of activity, the Ensemble has distinguished itself for its curiosity, energy, innovation, virtuosity and the passion with which it has dedicated itself to every new project. Unlike other historic ensembles dedicated to new music, the Ensemble Modern has a democratic organizational structure that allows all the members of the ensemble to discuss and together choose the new productions and performance engagements, which makes their interpretations passionate and precise. Their attitude towards composers from around the world is professional and respectful, both in the case of emerging young composers and of great established composers. The members of the ensemble are soloists with different and contrasting personalities, and each of them responds to the demands of the new music in a different way, creating a complex multiform dialogue that enriches the compositional experience and stimulates research and creativity.«

The Silver Lion has been awarded in the past to Vittorio Montalti and Francesca Verunelli (2010), RepertorioZero (2011), Quartetto Prometeo (2012), Fondazione Spinola Banna per l’Arte (2013), Ryo Murakami (2016), Dai Fujikura (2017), Sebastian Rivas (2018), Matteo Franceschini (2019), Raphaël Cendo (2020), Neue Vocalsolisten (2021), Ars Ludi (2022) and Miller Puckette (2023).