Ensemble intercontemporain
In 1976, Pierre Boulez founded the Ensemble intercontemporain with the support of Michel Guy (who was Minister of Culture at the time) and the collaboration and Nicholas Snowman.

The Ensemble’s 31 soloists share a passion for 20th-21st century music. They are employed on permanent contract, enabling them to fulfill the major aims of the Ensemble: performance, creation and education for young musicians and the general public. Under the artistic direction of Matthias Pintscher the musicians work in close collaboration with composers, exploring instrumental techniques and developing projects that interweave music, dance, theater, film, video and visual arts.

In collaboration with IRCAM (Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique), the Ensemble intercontemporain is also active in the field of synthetic sound generation. New pieces are commissioned and performed on a regular basis.

The Ensemble is renowned for its strong emphasis on music education: concerts for kids, creative workshops for students, training programs for future performers, conductors, composers, etc.

Resident of the Cité de la musique – Philharmonie de Paris, the Ensemble performs and records in France and abroad, taking part in major festivals worldwide.

The Ensemble is financed by the Ministry of Culture and receives additional support from the Paris City Council.

Pierre Bleuse
is fast becoming one of the most exciting and sought-after conductors, newly announced as Chief Conductor of Odense Symphony Orchestra from the 2021/22 season, as well as the new Artistic Director of renowned Pablo Casals Festival in Prades (France).

The 2021/22 season starts off with a first concert as Odense Symphony’s new Chief Conductor, followed by debuts with Orchestre National de France at the Theatre des Champs-Elysées, Singapore Symphony, Tokyo Symphony, Berner Symphonieorchester, Flanders Symphony orchestra on tour, as well as Orchestre Symphonique de Québec and Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège. Further to that, Pierre Bleuse will return to the Tonkünstler Orchestra, conducting rising-star pianist Marie-Ange Nguci, Ensemble Intercontemporain at the Philharmonie de Paris, Radio France Présences Festival and National Philharmonic of Russia.

Other recent highlights include invitation to such major orchestras as the Orchestre de Paris, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, MDR Sinfonieorchester Leipzig, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Basel and Paris chamber orchestras, Russia National Orchestra, Brussels Philharmonic, Belgium National Orchestra, China National Symphony Orchestra and Utah Symphony. He continues to consolidate his role in French musical life, regularly appearing with the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Opéra National de Lyon, Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg, Orchestre National d’Île-de-France, Bordeaux National Orchestra, Orchestre d’Auvergne, de Cannes, de Nancy, as well as Rouen, Tours and Toulon opera orchestras.

He regularly works with some of the most sought-after international soloists such as Sol Gabetta, Nicholas Angelich, Bertrand Chamayou, Emmanuel Pahud, Renaud and Gautier Capuçon.

He is committed to opera and last season conducted Dido and Aeneas Remembered – a theatrical work based on fragments of Purcell – at the Ruhrtriennale, working with the Opéra National de Lyon for the third time. He made his debut with the company in 2017, with Rimsky-Korsakov’s Mozart and Salieri. He also conducted Opéra National de Lyon for the televised Victoires de la Musique Classique awards ceremony in 2018, working alongside Angela Gheorghiu, Gautier Capuçon, Sabine Devieilhe and Jakub Jósef Orliński.

As a champion of new music, Pierre Bleuse serves as Joint Music Director of Lemanic Modern Ensemble, which focuses on 20th and 21st century repertoire and is resident at Geneva’s Victoria Hall.

In 2019, he’s invited to guest-conduct George Benjamin’s Into the Little Hill for ensemble and voices at the prestigious Festival Présences in Paris, with Ensemble intercontemporain. In 2018 he celebrated composer Michael Jarrell’s 60th anniversary, conducting Emmanuel Pahud and Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. His close relationship to Jarrell began when he performed the composer’s opera Cassandre in Aix-en-Provence’s Grand Théâtre in 2017.

In his role as cultural leader, Pierre Bleuse founded the Musika Orchestra Academy in Toulouse in 2008, bringing together talented young musicians from around the world to offer them professional orchestral experience and career support.

He studied conducting with Jorma Panula in Finland and Laurent Gay at the Haute École de Genève. Originally trained as a violinist, he served as concertmaster and Associate Conductor of the Toulouse Chamber Orchestra (2000 – 10) and was a member of the Satie Quartet.