“As soon as I say where I did my master's degree, doors open,” says Moritz Koch. The drummer, born in 1997, was a 2020/21 scholarship holder of the International Ensemble Modern Academy (IEMA) and completed this course at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts with the top grade. Now he is adding a soloist study with Dirk Rothbrust and Carlos Tarcha at the Cologne University of Music. At the same time, he works with various independent ensembles in projects, for example with the Musikfabrik (Cologne), the Ensemble S201 (Essen), Tempus Konnex (Leipzig), "and next week I'll be playing with 'Handwerk' - if it doesn't fail, because of Corona" .
Corona was also above his time at IEMA. Most of the lessons with conductors George Benjamin and Jonathan Stockhammer took place online. The international encounters via the Ulysses network were also able to take place as planned. Somewhere in Europe after a joint concert, having a beer face-to-face with a new contact and getting together on a project, that only happened once, at the 180-degree festival in Bulgaria. But now, in freelance work, the contacts pay off: "Before IEMA, I would never have thought that it would be possible to just play freely," says Koch. “We got the courage for free productions on a purely practical level by doing just that for a year: relatively free to rehearse, play and do among ourselves.The feedback from Ensemble Modern encouraged us to try out a lot. In any case, it has broadened our horizons. After having this experience, I really enjoy working with others: we grow together. "
Koch's path to the drums was not straightforward at first.
Admittedly, he loved to drum around from an early age.
But possibly out of acoustic self-protection, his parents first gave him guitar lessons.
“Later I bought a drum set from the newspaper with the pocket money I had saved.
Then I really got into it.
Then came the time of YouTube tutorials and the like, where I taught myself a lot.
I got classical drum lessons very late, at the age of 16. "
Working against the mainstream
Through his lessons he first came to the State Youth Orchestra, then to lively concerts, for example with the Bremen Philharmonic. Then to the Deutsche Oper Düsseldorf, as recently again with the production “Trash” by David Graham, and in 2020 for the opera production “Anna Nicole” by Mark-Anthony Turnage at the Staatstheater Wiesbaden. And in between for a bachelor’s degree with Olaf Tzschoppe in Bremen, with whom he still plays in the Bremen drum ensemble. “It opened up the world of compositions for me, who love to try out what you can do with drums. I really enjoyed that because there was and still is so much to discover. So I went to Rainer Römer in Frankfurt, ”said Koch.
So far he is not interested in a permanent position. The IEMA not only teaches craft, but also the critical questioning of one's own artistic activity: “Every day I think about art and society and I find that sometimes you have to be a counterbalance. In large ensembles something like a mainstream has developed again. You can shake it up again in the independent scene, ”says Koch. Can contemporary “serious” music make the world a better place? Definitely, says Koch. “You keep showing that it can be done differently than is generally done. Even if the ideas don't change something directly, everything you do can trigger something in someone's head. At least I hope so. ”He has already reaped the first fruits of the IEMA year.In the meantime, a new class has started the one-year master’s course, the previous one is playing a concert at the music college. One can already believe: We will still hear from every single scholarship holder.
“Fragments - The IEMA Ensemble 2021/22 introduces itself” will take place on December 12th at 7.30 pm at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts.