New International Centre for Contemporary Music to Open in London

Coming in 2022, the organization will promote and perform contemporary music under the direction of Zvonimir Hačko

The International Centre for Contemporary Music (ICCM) is set to open in London next year. The organization aims to promote contemporary music and will host a wide range of concerts in service of this ideal.

The ICCM points out that in the past, it was completely standard to listen exclusively to new music at concerts. That is not so much the case anymore, but the ICCM plans to offer a "rich and exciting plethora of current music" so that audiences can engage with new music.

Several prominent ensembles have already been secured for the ICCM's 2022/23 series, including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra, and the London Sinfonietta.

The ensembles will appear in three different sets of concerts. The first, titled "Leaning East," will feature works by prominent Eastern European composers such as Witold Lutosławski, Pēteris Vasks, and Sofia Gubaidulina. The second series is a "Penderecki Retrospective," which will commemorate the composer's life and legacy. Finally, the series entitled "America's High Cotton" will explore leading American contemporary composers such as John Adams, Jennifer Higdon, Steve Reich, Osvaldo Golijov, Philip Glass, and Missy Mazzoli.

The ICCM also plans to implement several other initiatives which will run in tandem with its concert series; these will include a recording program, masterclasses, and workshops. In addition to this, the ICCM has already been running a commissioning program for the last eighteen months.

Croatian-American conductor Zvonimir Hačko was appointed as the ICCM's artistic director. "Every age has its prophets and ours does too," said Hačko. "Our job is to find them and perform their works because they speak the truth of our time. That is what ICCM is about."