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.

To coincide with Jonathan Harvey’s 70^th birthday, one of his major works is being performed: the church opera Passion and Resurrection is a musical form of venerating God, in the tradition of its medieval precursors, and also includes the audience or congregation.

Charlotte Seither who has has been awarded a scholarschip by the Villa Massimo for 2009 and is currently spending a year on a scholarship in Rome, presented her latest work for large orchestra in London and Krefeld. The first part of Essay on Shadow and Truth has been performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, London, under the direction of André de Ridder. The complete orchestral work was premiered in Krefeld.