Formed in 1980 in Frankfurt, Germany, Ensemble Modern consists of an average of 20 musicians who dedicate themselves to performing the music of modern composers. They’ve been declared a beacon of contemporary culture by the German Federal Cultural Foundation, appeared at numerous prestigious festivals around the world and, in what has to be one of their most significant achievements, performed a selection of orchestral works in 1992 composed specifically for Ensemble Modern by the legendary Frank Zappa.
“We knew that Frank Zappa was composing all the time,” says Dietmar Wiesner, resident flutist of Ensemble Modern. “We knew from interviews and biographies that he was unsatisfied with the result because he wanted to get to know the characters, he wanted to get to know the players, and he wanted to go beyond the score. That’s why we offered him to make a so-called try-out for us where he could not only get to know our skills on the instruments but also our personalities.”
The result was a series of compositions titled The Yellow Shark, performed by Ensemble Modern and released as an album in 1993. The album would be the last released in Zappa’s lifetime; he passed away one month later following a long battle with cancer. Despite his illness, Zappa’s passion for the Yellow Shark project was clear, a detail Ensemble Modern members like Wiesner who worked directly with him during this time remember clearly.
“By then, Frank Zappa was already very sick,” says Wiesner. “But he was an absolutely friendly and wonderful creative man who was really interested in working all day and all night. We had sessions from the morning to the evening, and then he invited people who were interested to go on working to his house. Sometimes we worked all night.”
The combination of Zappa’s classical experimentation and compositional skills with the musical capabilities of Ensemble Modern produced a timeless performance, one which will now be shared with Australian audiences for the first time ever. In collaboration with ANAM students, Ensemble Modern will perform a selection of works from both Yellow Shark and Greggery Peccary in a unique performance this month.
“It’s a big honour to be in Melbourne and to be invited by Nick Deutsch, the artistic director of ANAM,” says Wiesner. “I’m very much looking forward to playing together with the young instrumental players of the Academy. These musicians, they already auditioned to get into the Academy. That means they are very fine players and they don’t need teaching so much but rather dialogues and sharing experiences.”
In addition to Ensemble Modern’s performances at ANAM — both Yellow Shark and a prior concert with a selection of other compositions — Wiesner will be conducting a masterclass to share his expertise with such young instrumentalists. Three other Ensemble Modern members will hold masterclasses at ANAM during their visist: Saar Berger, Jagdish Mistry and Hermann Kretzschmar, another Ensemble Modern musician who worked with Zappa on Yellow Shark.
“Frank Zappa said to Hermann, ‘I will make you famous for one day.’ And it was true. Hermann was in the news and he was everywhere. It was a very fruitful and fantastic experience. We had a very happy time.”
