Ensemble 2E2M

Ensemble 2E2M, created in 1972 by composer Paul Méfano, is one of the first French ensembles dedicated to contemporary musical creation. 2E2M stands for “Etudes et Expressions des Modes Musicaux ” (Studies and Expressions of Musical Modes) and aims to ensure pluralism and freedom of musical expression. The ensemble’s long history has enabled it to discover numerous composers, both French and from other nationalities, to create a repertoire of works that have now become staple works, and to establish a savoir-faire and culture through the generations of performers who have succeeded one another over the years. Since its creation in Champigny-sur-Marne (on the outskirts of Paris), the ensemble has been recognized and invited very early on both national and international stages. 2E2M has always been interested in all generations of composers and all styles: from classical repertoire (Bach, Schubert, Liszt …), to modern (Debussy, Ives, Ravel, Schoenberg, Varèse and Webern …) and contemporary (Jean Barraqué, Pierre Boulez, Sylvano Bussotti, John Cage, Morton Feldman, György Ligeti, Bruno Maderna, Olivier Messiaen, Luigi Nono, Karlheinz Stockhausen). The ensemble has created more than 600 scores, a number that reveals both eclecticism and musical insight. Indeed, 2E2M has introduced to the public, artists considered to be fundamental today (Brian Ferneyhough, Luis de Pablo, Franco Donatoni, Pascal Dusapin, Sofia Goubaïdoulina, Giacinto Scelsi, Toshio Hosokawa, etc…), and currently supports young and promising talents (Laurent Martin, Thierry Blondeau, Oscar Strasnoy, Franck Bedrossian, Jérôme Combier, Aureliano Cattaneo, Karim Haddad, Noriko Baba, Octavio Lopez,…). The ensemble competes in the festivals of Royan, la Rochelle, Metz, Strasbourg (Music), Présences of Radio-France, in Germany, Spain, England, Italy, Japan, Russia and in Central European countries. Numerous recordings testify to this intense activity. Program Gérard Grisey , Taléa for flute, clarinet, piano, violin, cello. Mauro Lanza , Allegro Chirurgo for saxophone solo. Mauro Lanza , Barocco for soprano, viola and 5 musicians playing with gioccatolo instruments. Franck Bedrossian , world creation of the definitive version for flute, clarinet, saxophone, piano, violin, cello, double bass. Musicians Donatienne Michel-Dansac , soprano Pierre-Stéphane Meugé , saxophone Jean-Philippe Grometto , flute Véronique Fèvre , clarinet Alain Huteau , percussion Véronique Briel , piano Fabien Roussel , violin Claire Merlet , viola David Simpson , cello Pierre Feyler , double bass Pierre Roullier , conductor Franck Bedrossian (b. 1971) After studying writing, orchestration and analysis at the Conservatoire national de ragion in Paris, he studied composition with Allain Gaussin and entered the Conservatoire Supérieur de Musique et de Danse in Paris (CNSM), in the courses of Gérard Grisey and then, of Marco Stroppa, where he won the First Prize in analysis and a degree in higher education in composition unanimously. In 2002 and 2003 he attended the IRCAM (Paris) Composition and Music Informatics Course and Philippe Leroux’s classes. At the same time he completed his training with Helmut Lachenmann. His works are performed both in France and abroad by Ensembles such as L’Itinéraire, 2E2M, Ictus, Cairn, l’Ensemble Intercontemporain, the National Orchestra of Lyon, as part of prestigious festivals such as Agora, Résonances, Manca, RTÉ Living Music Festival, l’Itinéraire de nuit, Ars Musica, Nuova Consonanza, le Printemps de Arts de Monaco. He has won several scholarships (Meyer foundation grant, Bleustein-Blanchet foundation for vocation) and numerous awards (including the “Pierre Cardin de Composition Musicale” Prize in 2005 and the very prestigious “Prix des Jeunes Compositeurs” that the SACEM in 2007). He was a fellow at the Academy of France in Rome – Villa Medici, from April 2006 to March 2008. His works are published by Editions Billaudot. Gérard Grisey (1946-1998) He studied at the Conservatoire de Trossingen in Germany (from 1963 to 1965) then between 1965 and 1972 at the Conservatoire Supérieur de Paris, a pupil of Olivier Messiaen, and at the École Normale de Musique in Paris, under Henri Dutilleux. He attended seminars by Karlheinz Stockhausen, György Ligeti and Iannis Xenakis in Darmstadt (1972), and studied electroacoustic music with Jean-Etienne Marie and with Émile Leipp at the University of Jussieu. He was an artist/resident at the French Academy in Rome from 1972 to 1974 where he met the poet Christian Guez Ricord and discovered the music of Giacinto Scelsi. In 1973 he participated in the founding of the ensemble L’Itinéraire. Gérard Grisey gave numerous composition seminars as part of the Ferienkurse de Darmstadt, in Freiburg, at IRCAM in Paris, at the Scuola Civica in Milan, and at numerous American universities; he also taught composition at the University of Berkeley in California from 1982 to 1986 and at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris until his untimely death in 1998. His compositions have been commissioned by various international musical institutions, performed regularly at festivals, reviews and radio broadcasts throughout Europe and the United States. Almost all of them are published by Ricordi (Milan). Mauro Lanza (b. 1975) Born in Venice in 1975, Mauro Lanza studied piano with Giorgio Vianello at the Conservatorio “B. Marcello” in Venice, where he graduated with honors in 1996. Parallel to his studies in Musicology at Ca’ Foscari University and Counterpoint and Fugue with Paolo Furlani, he took part as performer and composer in the activities of the Venetian Ensemble Laboratorio Novamusica. He has attended various composition master-classes with Salvatore Sciarrino, Gérard Grisey and Brian Ferneyhough. He won two First Prizes at the Valentino Bucchi (Rome 1996) and Carlo Gesualdo da Venosa (Potenza, 1998) composition competitions. He was a finalist with an opera project in the competitions organized by the Aix-en-Provence Festival and the Frankfurt Theater (Klangfiguren project). In 1998-99 he was among the ten composers selected to take the annual course in composition and computer music at IRCAM. Since then he has been residing in Paris and has several activities within this institute: that of composer-researcher in the field of synthesis for physical models and that of teacher. His pieces have been performed as part of festivals such as Présences (Radio France), Ensemble l’Itinéraire’s season, IRCAM’s season, the Strasbourg Music Festival, Europäische Musikmonat festival in Basel, the Venice Biennale, and have been broadcast by Radio Tre, France Culture and France Musique. He has received commissions from the French Ministry of Culture, the Ensemble Court-Circuit, Ensemble l’Itinéraire, the Venice Biennale, Europäische Musikmonat in Basel and the Ars Nova ensemble for works that have been conducted by Laurence Equilbey, Donatienne Michel-Dansac, Francesco Filidei, Vincent David, David Zambon and Pierre-Stéphane Meugé. IRCAM and the Archipel Festival in Geneva dedicated three monographic concerts to him in 2002 and 2004. He composed the original music for Angelin Preljocaj’s choreography Le Songe de Médée, which the Paris Opera and IRCAM commissioned from him. In 2004-2005, he taught computer-assisted composition at the Cuneo Conservatory as part of the new music and new technologies cursus. After a residency at Fresnoy in 2005-2006 with video artist Paolo Pachini and another at the Civitella Ranieri Foundation in June and July 2006, he was resident artist at the French Academy in Rome – Villa Medici, from April 2007 to October 2008.