Philipp Maintz, who was awarded the scholarship of the Deutsche Akademie Rom Villa Massimo, has written an orchstral work for his home city of Aachen. archipel describes a group of islands which are linked under water and whose peaks project. Thus, in the archipelago, there are on the one hand ”subterranean” links to the material in his opera project Maldoror (Munich Biennale 2010), and on the other hand, it reflects a special compositional structure; however, Philipp Maintz has conceived the orchestral work as a grouping of separate parts, whose continuity and branching out is interrupted by vertical intersections.  Music director Markus R. Bosch has conducted the first performance with the Aachen Symphony Orchestra on 22 October 2008.

Manfred Trojahn, who celebrates his 60th birthday on 22 October, has been awarded  the Deutscher Musikautorenpreis in the symphonic category; the prize has been awarded for the very first time in Berlin by GEMA, the German performing rights society. Trojahn has composed sentimento del tempo. music for solo violin, two flutes and strings. ansbachisches konzert 2009 for the Bachwoche Ansbach, which was contrasted with Johann Sebastian Bach’s 4th Brandenburg Concerto in a concert given by the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra on 7 August.

The young Czech composer Miroslav Srnka has been awarded a Composer’s Prize this year by the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation. Fan Faire for wind and percussion has been performed at the award ceremony on 15 May 2009 in the Münchner Kammerspiele. Before this, Ensemble Modern gave the Czech premiere of Les Adieux in Srnka’s native city of Prague. The concert, part of the Prague Premieres 09 Festival, took place in the Dvořák Hall of the Rudolfinum on 19 March, conducted by Matthias Pintscher.

The Austrian composer Thomas Daniel Schlee has written three important new works which are being premiered in Konstanz, Vienna and Stuttgart: his Concerto for Piano and Orchestra has been premiered on 1 April by the Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie Konstanz, conducted by Thomas Kalb. The soloist was Klaus Sticken. To mark the 50th anniversary of the ensemble “die reihe”, Schlee’s Enchantement vespéral, commissioned by the ensemble, was premiered on 3 June in the Broadcasting House of Austrian Radio in Vienna. Schlee has composed Spes unica for large orchestra for Württembergisches Staatsorchester. Manfred Honeck conducts the first performance on 12 July in Stuttgart.

Matthias Pintscher has composed a new three-part cycle for ensemble with sonic eclipse. The first part, celestial object I, was premiered by the Scharoun Ensemble in the concert "Hommage an Claudio Abbado" in Berlin. The premiere of celestial object II was given in Zermatt at the Berliner Philharmoniker’s summer academy. Pintscher has composed the third part, occultation, for Klangforum Wien on the occasion of the group’s 25th anniversary. It will be premiered in 2010 in Witten as part of the complete cycle. 

The Swiss composer Dieter Ammann’s works will be published by Bärenreiter-Verlag from now onwards. Born in Aarau in 1962, Ammann first made his name as a performer (trumpet, keyboards and bass) in improvised music and jazz. After studying composition and theory at the Musikakademie Basel and attending master classes with Wolfgang Rihm and Witold Lutoslawski, he turned increasingly to composing orchestral and chamber music in the 1990s. His work also includes teaching at the Hochschulen in Lucerne and Berne. As well as winning several national and international prizes, Dieter Ammann was recently awarded the prize for the most promising composer by the Siemens Arts Program.

Superflumina is the title of Salvatore Sciarrino’s latest music theatre work, which receives its premiere on 20 May in the Mannheim Nationaltheater. It is set in the concourse of a large railway station: here, unnoticed by the anonymous masses passing by, the tragedy of a homeless woman unfolds. Andrea Schwalbach directs the production, and experienced Sciarrino interpreter Tito Ceccherini conducts the new score. Further performance dates: 28 May, 1 and 6 June and 1 July.