Zimmer205-Composition-Commission
by the Institute for New Music at the Karlsruhe University of Music
The Institute for New Music is delighted to be in a position to award a composition commission each year, initially on a fixed-term basis until 2031. This Zimmer205-Composition-Commission, named after the composition class’s room at Gottesaue Castle, comprises not only the creation of a new ensemble piece – to be premiered by the Ensemble for New Music under the direction of Prof. Manuel Nawri – but also a masterclass given by the commissioned composer for students in the composition class.
The unique combination of a composition commission and a masterclass, a world premiere and an exchange between composers and performers, opens up new perspectives for students in the composition class as well as those in the instrumental classes.
This exchange is kindly supported by the Dr Ilse Völter Endowment Fund.
The first Zimmer205-Composition-Commission was awarded to the Berlin-based Korean composer Eun-Hwa Cho. The world premiere of her work and the masterclass will take place in January 2027
Biography Eun-Hwa Cho
Eun-Hwa Cho was born in Busan, South Korea. After completing her studies at Seoul National University, she continued her training at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music in Berlin, specialising in composition and music theory. She is currently a professor of composition at the same academy.
Her music encompasses a broad spectrum of styles, rooted in both Western music and traditional Korean music. By exploring the potential of traditional Korean instruments and reinterpreting traditional music within a new context, she has developed a personal musical language that bridges the creative worlds of East and West without overshadowing her own tradition. Through collaboration with artists from various disciplines – such as painting, sculpture and dance – she continually broadens her artistic horizons.
Eun-Hwa Cho’s compositions have been performed at numerous concerts and festivals, including the Ultraschall Festival Berlin, the Witten Days for New Chamber Music and the Darmstadt International Summer Courses for New Music. Orchestras and ensembles that have performed her works include, amongst others, the Modern Art Sextet, the Ensemble Modern, the Ensemble InterContemporain, the Ensemble recherche, the Arditti Quartet, the Tokyo Sinfonietta, the WDR Orchestra, the SWR Orchestra, the DRP Orchestra, the Orchestre National de Belgique, the State Hermitage Orchestra St Petersburg, as well as the Seoul Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra and the KBS Symphony Orchestra.
She has been awarded major prizes for her work both in Korea and internationally, including the 2008 Busoni Composition Prize from the Berlin Academy of Arts, first prize at the Queen Elisabeth International Composition Competition in Belgium (also in 2008), and the Grand Prize at the Korea Composition Award in 2014, in both categories – Korean tradition and Western music.
The commission for 2028 was awarded to the Aachen-based composer Michael Reudenbach.
Biography Michael Reudenbach
Michael Reudenbach was born in Aachen in 1956. After leaving school, he first completed an apprenticeship as a railway assistant before studying church music in Aachen from 1976 to 1982 and, from 1982 to 1986, composition with Joachim Blume and music theory with Dieter Gostomsky in Cologne. Further studies in composition took him to Paris in 1986–1987 to study with Denis Cohen. At the same time, he immersed himself in the performance practice of early music and has since been active as a performer and editor, specialising primarily in 17th-century music.
He was a scholarship holder at the Akademie Schloss Solitude in Stuttgart from 1990 to 1991, at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris in 1992, and at the Heinrich Strobel Foundation of the SWR in 1999. From 1999 to 2016, he taught music theory at the HfM Karlsruhe. In 2005, he was a visiting lecturer in composition at the Stuttgart Summer Academy at Schloss Solitude and, in 2006, at the Darmstadt Summer Courses. Between 2012 and 2015, he held temporary professorships in composition at the conservatoires in Dresden and Stuttgart, and from 2016 to 2022 he was Professor of Composition and Music Theory at the Frankfurt am Main University of Music and Performing Arts (HfMDK).
He has received commissions for compositions from, amongst others, the Kunststiftung NRW, the Munich Biennale, hr, SWR and WDR. The list of performers of his works ranges from Ensemble Aventure to l’art pour l’art, the Kaleidoskop soloists’ ensemble, the Schola Heidelberg, the Klangforum Wien and the Ensemble Intercontemporain in Paris. His portrait CD *Szenen, Standbilder*, released by the Berlin-based label Edition RZ, was awarded the German Record Critics’ Prize.