The XXth Century Ensemble was founded in Vienna in 1971 by the conductor Peter Burwik. Still he is the artistic director.

The primary concern of exxj is to aquaint the public with the music of our times and to this end it has commissioned in the past – and is still doing so – numerous compositions by contemporary composers.

Great part of the orchestra’s repertoire is made up of compositions of Schönberg, Berg and Webern, but it also frequently presents works by composers of the “modern classics” such as Berio, Boulez, Saariaho, Stockhausen, Pärt, Huber… In the course of it’s activities in the past exxj has also arranged numerous “portrait concerts” featuring works of one special contemporary composer at a time, for instance an evening with Steve Reich, Vinko Globokar, Morton Feldman, Younghi Pagh-Paan, Emanuel Nunes and Barbara Kolb.

Beside frequently performing in Vienna at the Konzerthaus, at the Austrian Radio ORF and at concerts within the framework Wiener Festwochen, exxj was often invited to play at the Brucknerhaus Linz and to take part in music festivals like Steirischer Herbst, Carinthischer Sommer as well as abroad: in France, Belgium, Poland, Germany, Sweden, England, Russia, Azerbaidjan and Switzerland. The XXth Century Ensemble also gave concerts at numerous international music festivals, it was invited to Salzburger Festspiele, the Edinburgh Festival, Berliner Festspiele, the Festival de Lille, the Hong Kong Arts Festival, the Huddersfield Festival, Warsaw Autumn Festival and “Musica” in Strasbourg among others.

Among it’s recent activities: a staged version of “Lohengrin”/Sciarrino and “Erwartung”/ Schönberg at the Vienna Festival 2001, concert with live TV transmission at the Enesco – Festival Bucharest, invitation to the National Concert Hall in Taipei with music of Chinese composers, concert and master classes within the XIV. Festival Latinoamericano de Música in Caracas, concerts at the Austrian Cultural Forum in New York City, a concert at the Austrian Parliament and a project in Sibiu / Romania, followed by a new, CD with Koglmann`s ”Nocturnal Walks”.

After the premiere of „Fear Death by Water“in Museums-Quartier in Vienna, and concerts held in Jazz Club „Porgy & Bess“ and “Arnold Schönberg Center”, also in Vienna, the ensemble has been concentrating on various presentations of genre- and border-crossing music projects such as “Old Viennese Music”, a project encouraging composers of various stylistic positions to deal with the traditional Viennese folk songs, or the presentation of contemporary compositions from China, Mexico, Aserbaidzan, Caucasus and South Africa at four music festivals.

“It is more than a mere pleasure to listen to each and every musician separately and to the whole ensemble as a body.” – Ernst Krenek