Kollektiv3:6Koeln

We, the Kollektiv3:6Koeln, were founded in 2017 by nine students of the Cologne University of Music and Dance. Consisting of five instrumentalists and four composers, we have made a conscious decision not to perform repertoire and instead devote ourselves exclusively to realising our own compositions and projects or those developed for and with us. In doing so, engaging with space, collaborating with guest artists and blurring genre boundaries always play an important role.

Through close artistic collaboration between all members, changing hierarchical structures for individual projects, and grassroots democratic decision-making, we have grown together into a group in which each member feels equally responsible for the positive development of the ensemble. The result for the audience is a powerful and high-quality concert experience with a special energy of its own. Since its inception, Kollektiv3:6Koeln has gained valuable visibility in the diverse scene of independent ensembles for contemporary music, was recently awarded the Cologne Culture Prize in the Young Initiatives 2020 category, and will be included in the three-year ensemble support programme Musik des Landes NRW (Music of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia) starting in October 2021.

In addition to numerous different projects, our in-house # concert series has established itself thanks to its high artistic and social standards. It represents the core of our artistic and musical collaboration and made its debut in October 2017 with three world premieres (K3:6K_#1). The great success of this pilot project, as well as the valuable trust and financial support of various institutions and foundations over the years (including the German Music Council, Kunststiftung NRW, Musikfonds e.V., MKW NRW, and the Cultural Office of the City of Cologne) encouraged and enabled us to continue on the path we had chosen, resulting in the concert K3:6K_#2 in November 2018 and the concert K3:6K_#3 in October 2020. We have always presented new compositions by the collective members and collaborated with numerous guest artists.