"This is harmonious, rhythmic, metric, and tonally extremely rich music ..." Klassik.com
"... emotional depth that touches." Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung
"Exciting tension with overtones and dissonances." Neue Presse
News:
"technología" for string quartet, orchestra & electronics - commissioned by the Konzerthaus Berlin for the 200th anniversary of the Konzerthaus Berlin
Premiere: Nov 26/27 2021 Konzerthaus Berlin - vision string quartet, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Enrico Pomàrico
01./02.11.21 Gewandhaus Leipzig, Hochschule für Musik und Theater Leipzig - "Ströme II" for orchestra
03.-05.09.21 Hannover - MENSCHLICHKEIT. Das grüne Festival
12.05.21 Randers, Dänemark - premiere "It is noisy in the ocean..."
April 24th, 21 musica assoluta and Thorsten Encke at the KlangbrückenFestival Hannover
02.10.20 - 28.02.21 composer-in-residence at the Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg Delmenhorst
"Only boredom is forbidden."
Thorsten Encke gave this advice in an interview to everyone who wants to invent music. In 2005 he won the composition competition of the Pablo Casals Festival in Prades, France. Since then, a large number of works in all genres has been created. As a conductor, he benefits from the composer's perspective and deep understanding of musical processes. Together with the musicians of his ensemble musica assoluta, he looks for transparency and fresh approach in music, whether old or new. Authentic dialogue and personal exchange with the audience are just as important to him as exploring undiscovered potential in all of us. He and his musicians see themselves as an active and constructive part of society and want to go through the world with open eyes, be a mouthpiece for relevant topics, bring people together and touch them.
“Encke, with his prize-winning string quartet, has succeeded in creating an impressive work … the unity and coherence in the composition reveal great maturity.” So said the critics at the conclusion of the competition, going on to attest to the composer’s “compositional vigour and the adamant will for expression”.
Born 1966 in Göttingen, Thorsten Encke studied violoncello and conducting in Hannover with Friedrich-Jürgen Sellheim and in Los Angeles with Lynn Harrell, gathered experience in all fields of classical music and performed widely as a soloist, chamber and orchestral musician. In 1999 he decided to devote himself to a future as a freelance musician. After winning the competition in Prades in 2005, Thorsten Encke shifted his musical focus to composition and conducting. Since then he has received numerous commissions, for example from the North German Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and the Hitzacker Summer Music Festival. His works are performed by artists such as Paavo Järvi, Christian Tetzlaff, Sharon Kam, Isabelle Faust, Julian Steckel, the Quartetto di Cremona, the Stockholm Chamber Brass and many other internationally active musicians.
In 2011 Thorsten Encke founded the orchestra musica assoluta. As conductor and artistic director of the ensemble, Encke is committed to imparting new ways of listening and presenting impetus-providing concert experiences. Renowned for his unconventional performances and programmes, the ensemble has within a short time earned great recognition among experts and significant public attention.