Founded in Hamburg in 2011, the Decoder Ensemble sees itself as a “band” for contemporary music and is one of the most unpredictable formations of the young new music scene. Surprising collaborations are as much a part of its programme as a heavily electrified sound that ranges from experimental instrumental music via vocal acrobatics to musical concept art. The musicians are equally active as performers, composers, and improvisers, thus forming a team that collectively develops their own pieces and interprets other composers’ works.

Decoder’s artistic collaborations traverse cultures and genres. They have worked with such composers as Marisol Jiminez, Johannes Kreidler, Jorge Sánchez-Chiong, Genoël von Lilienstern, Steven Daverson, Gordon Kampe, Yannis Kyriakides, Michael Maierhof, Jagoda Szmytka, the Gebrüder Teichmann project, and SPUR. The ensemble also performs its members’ own compositions (those by Leopold Hurt, Andrej Koroliov, and Alexander Schubert).

Decoder has performed at the International Summer Courses for New Music in Darmstadt, Ars Musica (Brussels), Klang Festival (Copenhagen), Blurred Edges (Hamburg), Reverb Festival (London), Greatest Hits (Hamburg), aDevantgarde (Munich), Klub Katarakt (Hamburg), Klangwerkstatt (Berlin), Reeperbahn Festival (Hamburg), Unerhörte Musik (Berlin), Klangwerktage (Hamburg), as well as producing their own concert series in Hamburg. Upcoming performances include appearances at the 2015 Warsaw Autumn, Klangspuren Schwaz (Austria), Pyramidale (Berlin), and the premiere of Michael Maierhof ’s new opera Exit G.

Decoder is the recipient of the 2012 Hermann and Milena Ebel Prize, as well as grants from the Hamburg Centre for Culture, Goethe Institute, Rusch Foundation, IMPULS New Music, Feldtmann Cultural Society, German Radio, and German Music Council. Decoder’s self-titled CD Decoder was released in January 2015 on Ahornfelder Records. Decoder Ensemble is run artistically and organisationally in equal shares by all members.