They gave their debut under the name „Ensemble Neue Musik Nordrhein-Westfalen“, 28 April 1991, at the
Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik (Witten Days for new chamber music). The formation of the ensemble took place at the end of 1990. The founders of the ensemble, Bernhard Wambach,
Nicolaus A. Huber, and
Gerhard Stäbler and the designated conductor and artistic director
Johannes Kalitzke selected and summoned almost 20 musicians and presented the proposed project. Most of the musicians present were excited about the idea of forming a full-time professional ensemble that would be working on contemporary music and programs in close collaboration with composers. Since 1997, the ensemble has organised itself and made all important artistic decisions within its own ranks. The emphasis shifted then from
North Rhine-Westphalian composers to a more international focus. Founded after the Amsterdam
Asko Ensemble (formed 1965), the
London Sinfonietta (1968), the
Schönberg Ensemble (Den Haag, 1974),
Ensemble InterContemporain (Paris, 1976),
Ensemble Modern (Frankfurt, 1980),
Klangforum Wien (Vienna) and Freiburg's
ensemble recherche (both 1985), Ensemble Musikfabrik is one of the youngest leading New Music ensembles in the world. In 2003, Ensemble Musikfabrik moved from
Düsseldorf to
Cologne. Thanks to generous support from the
Kunststiftung NRW,
WDR (West German Radio) and
KölnMusik, musikFabrik has now a highly successful world Première concert series "musikFabrik in WDR“. MusikFabrik prepares for these concerts and for other projects in their new domicile in the KOMED building in
MediaPark (Cologne), where they moved in the summer of 2008. ==Profile==