The œnm . œsterreichisches ensemble fuer neue musik is one of the most traditional European ensembles for the interpretation of 20th and 21st century music.
From a fortunate constellation - the coming together of composers actively making music and instrumentalists interested in contemporary music - a small group was formed in Salzburg in 1975, which over the years and after several hundred premieres has transformed into a medium-sized soloist ensemble. What initially corresponded to the personal wish of the founders actually became a programme, as constant as it was changeable: the development, performance and communication of contemporary music, especially in the city and province of Salzburg, but also on international stages.
Since 1997, the œnm's artistic focus has been on its collaboration with Johannes Kalitzke as principal guest conductor. The long-standing relationship with other composers and conductors such as Aureliano Cattaneo, Tito Ceccherini, Pascal Dusapin, Titus Engel, Beat Furrer, Georg Friedrich Haas, Toshio Hosokawa, Helmut Lachenmann, Andor Losonczy, Hossam Mahmoud, Franck Ollu, Enno Poppe, Steve Reich, Wolfgang Rihm, Peter Rundel, Peter Ruzicka, Oswald Sallaberger, José María Sánchez-Verdú, Salvatore Sciarrino and Mathias Spahlinger.
The œnm has made regular guest appearances at the Salzburg and Bregenz Festivals, wien modern, the Dialoge Festival of the International Mozarteum Foundation, the Salzburg Easter Festival and Klangspuren Schwaz, as well as at the Dresden Contemporary Music Days, the Ultraschall Berlin Festival, the Munich Biennale, the Kunstfest Weimar, the Elbphilharmonie and the Warsaw Autumn.
Since 2011, œnm has offered so-called "studio concerts" in the intimate setting of the Salzburg Künstlerhaus, where direct contact with the audience is established. In 2012 it was awarded the Bank Austria Art Prize for Music Education. Video and audio recordings with the œnm have been released by NEOS, KAIROS, cpo, Deutsche Grammophon and ORF.
