Ensemble Linea

Based is Strasbourg, France, Ensemble Linea was founded by conductor / pianist Jean-Philippe Wurtz in 1998 and has become one of France’s leading ensembles for contemporary music. Since its beginnings, Linea has been committed to promoting a democratization of contemporary music, giving priority to audience encounter and openness towards other artistic disciplines. Looking beyond artistic trends and stylistic boundaries, Linea’s artistic program encompasses musical theater to electronic music. Linea advocates an engaged music anchored in modernity, favoring works that accept and explore the complexities of our era.Linea regularly gives concerts around the world in cities such as New York, Seoul, Budapest, Brussels, Bilbao, Berlin, Saint Petersburg, Geneva, Lyon, Royaumont, Paris, Prague, and Rome to name a few. Their performances have been broadcast by major radio stations, among them France Musique, the BBC, and Germany’s SWR.They have performed in leading venues and festivals, among them Berlin’s Ultraschall Festival in 2011 and 2013, the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival in the United Kingdom (2011, 2013), Ars Musica, Belgium (2011), the University of Buffalo’s June in Buffalo program (2011 and 2013), Budapest Autumn (2009), Switzerland’s Archipel Festival (2008), and Germany’s prestigious Darmstadt Ferienkurse in 2012.Because of their consummate skill, Ensemble Linea has gained the confidence of leading composers both in the United States and abroad, collaborating closely with well-known artists such as Ivo Malec, Péter Eötvös, Brian Ferneyhough, Philip Manoury, Klaus Huber, Younghi Pagh-Paan and numerous others, as well as with numerous young, student, and emerging composers through university residencies and master classes. From 2008 – 2013, Linea was the ensemble in residence at Royaumont Abbey (Val d’Oise, France). To date, Ensemble Linea has released two prize-winning CDs.