Commissions to Mirela Ivičević & Liza Lim

The three major Freiburg-based orchestras – the Freiburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Ensemble Recherche and the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra – would like to strengthen their musical and collaborative ties by jointly commissioning two compositions.

Two commissions are being created in two steps: the first for the Freiburg Philharmonic Orchestra and Ensemble Recherche, who will not only play alongside each other, but with each other. The Croatian composer Mirela Ivičević was won over for this idea. In her work, she deals with breaks in structural and hierarchical expectations, as well as with interpersonal and musical relationships. Thus, her musical approach is indicative of the emerging musical relationship between the various ensembles. Her music is loud, complex and often sounds like a rebellious act, which is almost also reflected in the radical cooperation and support between the ensembles – instead of progressive individualisation and growing competition in an exciting time of world history, in which it is becoming increasingly difficult for artists to finance projects and attract new audiences, the three orchestras in Freiburg have decided to stick together and introduce their respective audiences to the work of the other ensembles.

The second step brings all three orchestras together in a performance of Karlheinz Stockhausen’s GRUPPEN. As the highlight of the three-step process, the two orchestras first perform alongside each other, then with each other, and finally with the third orchestra, the composers return to the origin of the basic idea for this commissioned work. The Australian composer Liza Lim will compose a work especially for the particular musical abilities of the classical symphony orchestra, the contemporary music ensemble with its extensive knowledge of extended playing techniques, and the baroque orchestra with its period instruments and the special tunings that go with them.

The commissions to Mirela Ivičević and Liza Lim are made possible by the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation.

Further information:
theater.freiburg.de

Dates

October 1, 2026
Konzerthaus Freiburg

October 1 & November 1, 2027
Konzerthaus Freiburg