Artists

Adrian Stern is a dialect singer, songwriter, guitarist and producer, and has a degree in jazz – in short, he is one of the most versatile musicians in Switzerland. His great love, however, has always been songwriting – the art of telling a story concisely, condensing it and getting it to the point in just three minutes. Adrian Stern was initially situated more in the field of collage rock, but over the years has increasingly found his own style: love songs became his trademark, borne along by his velvety voice and soulful acoustic guitar.

Aglaia Graf has given concerts in many European countries, Japan, China and Russia. She has performed in halls such as the Musikverein in Vienna, the Wigmore Hall in London, the Philharmony in Moscow, the State Capella in St. Petersburg and the Zurich Tonhalle. She has performed with orchestras such as the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra, the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra, the Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie, the Göttingen Symphony Orchestra, the Grimethorpe Colliery Band and the Würzburg Philharmonic Orchestra. She has won many national and international awards, prizes and grants including the prestigious European “Kulturförderpreis”.

At the age of 14, Aglaia Graf gave her debut with orchestra and began her professional music studies in the class of Adrian Oetiker at the Basel University of Music. After having received her Master in Performance with distinction in 2007, she furthered her studies in Paris and in Vienna. Graf leads a successful piano class at the Basel Music Academy, organises piano courses in Arosa, chamber music courses in Riehen, and recently also gave masterclasses in Russia.

Alexander Boldachev is a virtuoso harpist, composer, teacher, and founder of the Zurich Harp Festival. He received a Master’s degree from the Zurich Academy of Arts, studying with Catherine Michel (harp), Mathias Steinauer (composition) and Marc Kissoczy (conducting). He has won awards at over a dozen international competitions including the “Prix Walo” and the “ProEuropa”.

Alexander Boldachev has performed in the USA, England, Canada, France, Japan, Brazil, China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Germany, Switzerland, Turkey, Argentina, Hungary, Italy, Russia and elsewhere, and has been a guest at Carnegie Hall in New York, the Musikverein in Vienna and the Great Philharmonic Hall in St. Petersburg. In 2018, he wrote and performed an electronic harp solo at the FIFA World Cup Opening Ceremony, sharing the stage with Robbie Williams and Aida Garifullina. Boldachev was given the prize for the “Best Rock Cover Song” at the Akademia Music Awards in Los Angeles, for a unique performance of the song “Californication” by the American band Red Hot Chili Peppers.

The harpist Alice Belugou was born in Rouen in 1991. She began her studies at the Sorbonne in Paris and at the Pôle Supérieur de Paris Boulogne-Billancourt, then moved to Lausanne to study with Letizia Belmondo for her Master in Music Performance at the Haute École de Musique, where she was awarded a special prize for excellence in her Master Concerts in 2015. She then completed a Master in Music Pedagogy and a Minor in Contemporary Music at the Basel Academy of Music.

Belugou has attended master classes with Isabelle Moretti, Fabrice Pierre, Catherine Michel, Frédérique Cambreling and Marie-Pierre Langlamet, and has worked with composers including Georges Aperghis, Mark André, Heinz Holliger, William Blank, Jennifer Walshe and Simon Steen-Andersen.

Since 2015, Belugou has performed at various festivals in Europe as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral musician: at the Lucerne Festival, Zeiträume Basel, Archipel (CH), Manifeste (FR), New Direction (SW), ON Cologne (DE), Microtonality Basel, the Darmstadt Holiday Courses, Zurich New Music Days, Kontakte Berlin and the Rümlingen Festival (CH). In 2017, she won a scholarship of the Fritz Gerber Foundation, and in 2018 she won second prize at the DHF World Harp Competition.

Praised for her “deeply moving performances” (“Hamburger Abendblatt”), Alina Pogostkina, winner of the 2005 Sibelius Competition in Helsinki, performs at many of the world’s most renowned festivals and concert venues, working with conductors such as Michael Tilson Thomas, Gustavo Dudamel, David Zinman, Jonathan Nott, Paavo Järvi, Michael Sanderling, David Afkham, Robin Ticciati, Thomas Hengelbrock and John Storgårds. Alina Pogostkina enjoys longstanding artistic relationships with orchestras such as the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the NHK and Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestras, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the SWR Symphonieorchester and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra.

Alina Pogostkina displays impressive versatility in a diverse and wide-ranging repertoire from Baroque to Classical, often played on gut strings, and including modern masterworks. St. Petersburg-born Alina Pogostkina grew up in Germany and received violin lessons from her father Alexander Pogostkin. She later studied with Antje Weithaas at Berlin’s Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler”, and Baroque violin with Reinhard Goebel. She plays on a Camillo Camilli violin from 1752.

Andreas Haefliger comes from a rich tradition of music making and is acclaimed for his sensitivity, musical insights and transcendent pianism. Known for his innovative programming, he brings an all-encompassing passion and humanity to his concert appearances and recordings. At an early age he was surrounded by intense vocal artistry, thereby acquiring the beginnings of what would become a highly individual vocal piano sound, and a sense of natural lyricism in his music making. Having finished his studies at the Juilliard School, Haefliger soon thereafter performed with the major American and European orchestras. A superb recitalist, Haefliger has ongoing regular relationships with the Vienna Konzerthaus and Wigmore Hall, as well as the Lucerne and Edinburgh Festivals. Haefliger is as a uniquely insightful interpreter of Beethoven. In 2020, locked down in the Swiss Alps, he filmed Beethoven’s monumental op. 106 Hammerklavier sonata alongside interviews with the alpinist Dani Arnold in the gorgeous mountain scenery, for release in cinemas and online. In Autumn 2021 BIS Records (with whom Haefliger has an exclusive contract) release his recording of the Beethoven op. 31 sonatas, before resuming the Perspectives series in 2022 and beyond. Haefliger began his recording career with Sony Classical, later appearing on Decca with the Takács Quartet and also Matthias Goerne, with whom he won the Preis ”Der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik” for Schubert’s Goethe Songs.

Andri Schenardi was born in 1980 in Altdorf in Canton Uri. He studied drama at the Zurich University of the Arts, and his first engagement was in 2007 at Konzert Theater Bern, working with directors such as Erich Sidler, Matthias Kaschig, Markus Bothe, Jan-Christoph Gockel and Claudia Bauer.

Schenardi has played various leading roles in classical and modern theatre including Hamlet, Pinocchio, Volpone, Cyrano de Bergerac, Jay Gatsby and even the female head of the mental asylum in Dürrenmatt’s “The Physicists”, Mathilde von Zahnd. As a freelance actor, Schenardi is active in theatre and in film, and has also recorded radio plays. His main role before the camera up to now was as the narrator Franky Loving in Dani Levy’s one-take episode of the series “Tatort”, namely “Die Musik stirbt zuletzt”.

Andri Schenardi has been a freelance actor since 2014 and is regularly engaged by the Grazer Schauspielhaus and elsewhere.

Besides enjoying several successes in international chamber music competitions, the Azahar Ensemble was a prize-winner in the category “Wind Quintet” at the renowned ARD Competition in 2014. Since then, this quintet has developed a busy concert schedule, giving guest performances in Germany, Switzerland, France, Spain, Canada and the Dominican Republic. After acclaimed concerts in Cologne (at West-German Radio, WDR) and in the Philharmonie in Berlin (with their debut on Deutschlandradio), Vienna (Musikverein), Baden-Baden, Salzburg, Innsbruck, the Philharmonie Essen, the Mozartfest Würzburg, the Rheingau Music Festival and elsewhere, this quintet continues to give guest performances throughout Europe. In 2022, it will premiere a new work by Gija Kancheli in Georgia.

Many concerts by the Azahar Ensemble have been recorded and broadcast by radio stations across Europe, including Bavarian Radio, South-West-German Radio, Deutschlandradio Kultur, Radio Clásica España, Swiss Radio, France Musique and Catalunya Música. The Ensemble’s debut CD, featuring works by Joaquín Turina, was recorded in a co-production with Deutschlandradio and released on the Hänssler label in 2018 to enthusiastic reviews in the international press.

The Azahar Ensemble was founded in 2010 by musicians of the Spanish National Youth Orchestra. Its five members were awarded a scholarship by the Fundación JONDE-BBVA that enabled them to study chamber music with the bassoonist Sergio Azzolini at the Basel Music Academy. All five are regularly invited to play in renowned orchestras, including the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, the Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Berlin Konzerthausorchester, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Liceu Barcelona, the Philharmonisches Orchester Lübeck, the Munich Chamber Orchestra, the Basel Symphony Orchestra, the Camerata Bern, the Kammerorchester Basel and the Swiss Orchestra.

Miquel Ramos Salvadó and Antonio Lagares Abeal are active as freelance musicians, André Cebrián Garea is principal flautist in the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, María José García Zamora is the principal bassoonist at the Komische Oper Berlin, and María Alba Carmona Tobella is an oboist in the Zurich Opera Orchestra; like Miquel Ramos Salvadó, she is also a member of the ensemble Spira Mirabilis.

André Cebrián Garea, flute
María Alba Carmona Tobella, oboe
Miquel Ramos Salvadó, clarinet
Antonio Lagares Abeal, horn
María José García Zamora, bassoon

The Basel Chamber Orchestra is deeply rooted in the city of Basel with world tours and more than 60 concerts per season. As the first orchestra to be awarded the Swiss Music Prize in 2019, the Basel Chamber Orchestra stands out for its excellence and diversity as well as for its depth and consistency. The Basel Chamber Orchestra frequently collaborates with selected soloists such as Isabelle Faust and Christian Gerhaher also under the artistic direction of the first violins and the baton of selected conductors such as Heinz Holliger, René Jacobs and Pierre Bleuse. The concert programmes range from early music on historical instruments to contemporary music and historically informed interpretations.

Christiaan Postuma, tenor
Alberto Palacios Guardia, tenor
Roger Casanova, baritone
Aram Ohanian, bass
Rehearsal by Raphael Immoos

Bernhard Russi was born in Andermatt. He is a former ski racer and was one of the top downhill athletes during his heyday in the 1970s. He won an Olympic gold medal and two world championships and was several times named Swiss Sportsman of the Year. In 1969, when he was largely unknown, he worked as a stuntman during the filming of the James Bond film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.

After his career in skiing, Bernhard Russi was active as a commentator and race analyst for Swiss TV. He also worked in advertising and as a technical advisor to the International Ski Federation (FSI). He had originally trained as a structural draughtsman, and now helped to plan numerous new downhill slopes, from the Calgary Olympics in 1988 to the Beijing Olympics in 2022. He also helped to design the World Championship courses in Sestriere, Åre, Beavercreek and St. Moritz, thereby making a significant contribution to the further development of alpine skiing. His manifold commitments and many public appearances mean he remains one of the most prominent personalities in Switzerland. This most famous son of Andermatt is now entering new territory by narrating Sergei Prokofiev’s symphonic fairy tale Peter and the wolf for the first time in the Concert Hall.

After his celebrated debut, Bernhard Russi returns to the Andermatt Concert Hall with ”Carnival of the Animals”.

Together, the trumpets, horns, trombones and tuba of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra form the Brass Ensemble of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. The aim of the Brass Ensemble of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra is to demonstrate through concerts and masterclasses the versatile repertoire for brass instruments in various combinations. These formations can vary from a trio to a large ensemble of 20 players, sometimes complemented by percussion.

In the Netherlands, the Ensemble has performed in various venues such as the Royal Concertgebouw, during the famous Amsterdam Canal Festival and during the Giromania Festival to mark the start of the “Giro d’Italia”. Members of the Brass Ensemble of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra are well-known performers and teachers around the world. Most of the members teach at top Dutch and international music institutes and perform often as soloists.

The Brass Ensemble of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra has performed extensively at home and abroad. After a successful American tour in 2003, other tours in the USA followed: in the Chicago Symphony Hall with the brass section of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (2005), and in 2006 and 2009 in New York with the New York Philharmonic brass section. The Ensemble has performed and given masterclasses in numerous countries such as the United States, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan, Spain, Germany, the Czech Republic, Italy, Austria, Bulgaria Costa Rica, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Belgium. The Ensemble has inspired various composers to write works and to make arrangements especially for them.

In 2007 they presented their first CD, “Brass of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra”, released on the RCO Live label of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. A second CD, “Brass Too”, was released in October 2014. Many of their performances have been broadcast at home and abroad. They are active on various social media accounts where they share content with their many followers.

The Camerata RCO is comprised of members of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. It is their absolute love of chamber music that spurs on these musicians to find the time to perform together as the Camerata RCO, besides their work with the Orchestra itself. This ensemble, which has been praised by the New York Times for its “warm, glowing performances”, has enjoyed immense success in the Netherlands and abroad, and today gives some 50 concerts each season in international music centres such as Amsterdam, Vienna, Tokyo, Seoul, Madrid, Rome and New York.

The Camerata RCO has given many radio and TV performances and has recorded several CDs on the Gutman Records label (with works by Corelli, Mozart, Mendelssohn and Ravel). Its most recent recording was released in 2021 and includes the chamber arrangement of Bruckner’s 7th Symphony that they will be playing in Andermatt.

The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (RCO) is based in Amsterdam and was founded in 1888. It officially received the appellation “Royal” on the occasion of its Centenary Celebrations in 1988. Queen Máxima of the Netherlands is its patroness.

The RCO is one of the finest orchestras in the world and has repeatedly worked with the greatest conductors and soloists. Composers such as Richard Strauss, Gustav Mahler and Igor Stravinsky all conducted it on more than one occasion. To this day, the Orchestra continues to foster long-term relationships with contemporary composers.

Camerata RCO

Sjaan Oomen, Geige
Annebeth Webb, violin
Santa Vižine, viola
Maartje-Maria den Herder, cello
Olivier Thiery, double bass
Hein Wiedijk, clarinet
Fons Verspaandonk, horn
Marc Aixa Siurana, kettledrum
Frank van de Laar, piano
Franka Herwig, accordion

Christoph Pfändler was born in Lucerne in 1992. He was taught by the renowned dulcimer player Töbi Tobler, which proved to be a stroke of luck: this pioneer of the dulcimer let Pfändler explore traditional paths along with those that were new and unconventional, and supported him as he did so. Pfändler soon became interested in heavy metal and wanted to transfer this to the dulcimer. He began his folk music studies at the Lucerne University of Music in 2010. In January 2012 he gave his first concert with the conductor Howard Griffiths and the Brandenburg State Orchestra, which resulted in several more such engagements. He graduated from the Lucerne University of Music in 2013 with top marks in his Bachelor of Arts in folk music. That same year, Marco Kunz invited him to join his band. To date, he has released four albums with “Kunz”, which have all achieved gold status, and were followed by large-scale tours throughout Switzerland. Together with his band “Metal Kapelle”, Pfändler released the albums Fuckbrett and Insomnia. He and Töbi Tobler perform as the dulcimer duo “TOPF” (“i.e. TObler & PFändler). Pfändler’s band “Stalldrang” specialises in traditional folk music.

Daniel Heide was born in Weimar. He is one of the most sought-after song accompanists and chamber musicians of his generation, and a regular guest at renowned festivals such as the Schubertiade in Schwarzenberg and Hohenems, the Schubertiada Vilabertran (Spain), the Edinburgh International Festival, the Schleswig Holstein Music Festival and the Rheingau Music Festival. He has given guest performances in the most important European concert halls, including the Philharmonic Halls of Berlin, Cologne and Paris, the Konzerthaus in Berlin, Vienna and Dortmund, the Frankfurt Opera, the Prinzregententheater in Munich, the Wigmore Hall in London, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Zurich Tonhalle and many others. He has worked closely with many singers, such as Andrè Schuen, Christoph and Julian Prégardien, Simone Kermes and Katharina Konradi. He has also enjoyed a close collaboration with the mezzo-soprano Stella Doufexis, and their joint CD Poèmes with Debussy’s songs was awarded the German Record Critics’ Prize. His other CDs include “Die schöne Müllerin” in 2021 and “Schwanengesang” in 2022, both with Andrè Schuen on the Deutsche Grammophon label.

Dominik Flückiger is an innovative, versatile musician who brings “hip” sounds to the schwyzerörgeli accordion, and whose compositions build bridges between folk music and other genres. He has always loved tinkering around with melodies and arrangements. In addition to composing countless Ländler pieces, Flückiger also regularly composes works in a wide variety of genres. Whether he is writing chamber music, orchestral music, fusion or for folk ensemble, you can always recognise his musical signature. He was able to hone his craft during his studies in composition, and since then has been commissioned to compose various works.

The duo of Albin Brun and Kristina Brunner consists of the saxophonist/schwyzerörgeli player Albin Brun, and the cello/schwyzerörgeli player Kristina Brunner. Brun has immense experience – the prizes he has won include the 2017 Swiss Music Prize – and he has given concerts in 25 countries. Brunner is an exceptional young musician who has made a name for herself far and wide with her virtuoso playing. Brun was born in Lucerne in 1959 and lives there today. Since beginning as a folk and street musician, he has become regarded as a key figure on the scene that straddles jazz and contemporary folk music. Kristina Brunner studied the cello with Markus Flückiger at the Lucerne School of Music, focusing on folk music and schwyzerörgeli. She maintains an active concert schedule, especially in her duo with Albin Brun, but also with her sister Evelyn Brunner. Evelyn studied the pedagogy of music and movement and is active in various projects and bands on the folk-music scene.

Eiger Mönch & UrSchwyz

Maria Gehrig

Maria Gehrig grew up in Andermatt. She took violin lessons with Jens Lohmann at the Zurich Conservatory, with Igor Karsko and Ina Dimitrova at the Lucerne University of Music, and she studied folk music with Noldi Alder and Paul Giger. In 2013 she completed a Master in music education, and in 2016 she also obtained a Master in performance. Maria Gehrig teaches at the Uri Music School. In addition to performing with Eiger Mönch & UrSchwyz, she regularly plays in the following ensembles: Duo Fränggi and Maria Gehrig, Trio InterFolk, the Irish folk band “Cottage”, the Camerata Uri and the house orchestra of the Uri Theatre.

Hanna Landolt

Hanna Landolt grew up in Schwyz and began playing the violin at a very early age. She was encouraged by her siblings and soon joined her family’s own Landolt Quartet. After graduating from high school and completing a Bachelor in music and movement at the Zurich University of the Arts, she completed a Master in education at the Bern University of the Arts with Barbara Doll, taking the violin as her main instrument. Hanna Landolt teaches at the music schools of Schwyz and Zug. She is passionate about playing, whether solo, in duos with various other musicians, in the chamber orchestra collegium musicum uri or in film music projects of the symphony orchestra TriEvent.

Kristina Brunner

After finishing high school, Kristina Brunner studied cello at the Lucerne School of Music, with a focus on folk music. She completed her Bachelor in 2016, studying with Jürg Eichenberger and Andreas Gabriel. She subsequently studied schwyzerörgeli with Markus Flückiger, also at the Lucerne School of Music, successfully completing her course in 2019. Since then, she has been teaching schwyzerörgeli at the music schools in the Gürbetal region, in the city of Lucerne and at MUSIKA. She also has an active concert schedule, especially in her duos with Evelyn Brunner and Albin Brun.

Evelyn Brunner

After graduating from high school, Evelyn Brunner studied music and movement pedagogy at the Lucerne School of Music. In addition to a broad pedagogical training, she took double bass as her principal instrument, studying with Bobby Burri; for her second instrument she took schwyzerörgeli lessons with Markus Flückiger. Evelyn Brunner teaches schwyzerörgeli at the music schools of Thun and Bern, directs folk music courses and is a member of various bands and projects in the field of folk music.

Ensemble l’Airchet

Frederic Sánchez

Frederic Sánchez is the principal flautist of the Swiss Orchestra and the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra. Since 2022 he has been a professor of flute at the Centro Superior Katarina Gurska and has worked with orchestras such as the London Philharmonic and the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. In 2010 he founded the Azahar Ensemble, which won the ARD Competition in Munich in 2014.

Sherniyaz Mussakhan

Sherniyaz Mussakhan is the concertmaster of the Swiss Orchestra. As a soloist, he has performed with orchestras including the Royal Philharmonic of London, the Basel Symphony Orchestra and the Astana Opera Symphony Orchestra. He has played at the Menuhin Festival in Gstaad and has played solo at the Bolshoi Theatre, the Mozarteum in Salzburg, the Hofburg in Vienna and the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. He is a Cavalier of the Order of Daryn.

Jana Ozolina

The violinist Jana Ozolina was a member of Gidon Kremer’s chamber orchestra KREMERata Baltica and has worked as a soloist and played chamber music with András Schiff, Martha Argerich, Heinz Holliger and others. She has performed with various ensembles and as a soloist in more than 40 countries around the world, playing in major concert halls such as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Musikverein in Vienna, Carnegie Hall in New York and the Sydney Opera House.

Lech Antonio Uszynski

With his “reflective” art of playing, Lech Antonio Uszynski has established himself as one of the most exciting, versatile violists of his generation. He has performed as a guest in concert halls such as the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, the Wigmore Hall in London and the Suntory Hall in Tokyo. His solo CD “Progetto Gibson” was released in 2019. Since 2010 he has been the violist of the Stradivari Quartet, with whom he has enjoyed success in the concert halls of Europe, Asia and America.

Gunta Ābele

Gunta Ābele was born in Riga in 1986. She has performed as a soloist and a chamber musician throughout Europe, and has played at international festivals such as the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival and the Music Festival for Contemporary Music in Madrid. She has performed with artists such as Teodor Currentzis, Gidon Kremer and Sofia Gubaidulina. Gunta Ābele is the founder and artistic director of the chamber orchestra Camerata Basilea. Her solo CD “Magnificello” was released in 2019.

The EnsembLesAlpes was founded in 2020 by Ola Sendecki, Samuel Justitz and Matthias Alexander Bruns with the aim of promoting and cultivating Swiss chamber music from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. This ensemble performs in various instrumental combinations and has its origins in the Swiss Orchestra. It developed out of a desire to bring Swiss composers of the Classical, Romantic and modern periods back into the light of day, and to let their forgotten works sound once more on the concert podium. For example, the EnsembLesAlpes has dedicated itself both to the extensive chamber music oeuvre of Joachim Raff and to the pensive contemplation of Nature found in Ernest Bloch’s Landscapes. The works of Frank Martin and Hans Huber also play a major role in their repertoire.

The ensemble is made up of instrumentalists who have attained recognition at many festivals at home and abroad. They also play in other, renowned orchestras and chamber ensembles – either as permanent members or as regular guests – including the Orchestra of the Hamburg State Opera, the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Munich and Cologne Radio Orchestras, the Staatskapelle Weimar, the Orchestra of Europe, the Orchestra of the Bayreuth Festival, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Camerata Bern, the Graubünden Chamber Philharmonic, the Lucerne Festival Strings, the Camerata Schweiz and the Stradivari Quartet.

Matthias Alexander Bruns, violin
Ola Sendecki, violin
Lech Uszynski, viola
Cristian Andris, viola
Samuel Justitz, cello
Joachim Müller-Crépon, cello

In addition to a special affinity for Lieder, the Swiss soprano Franziska Heinzen dedicates herself to the great soprano roles in opera and oratorio. She has performed chamber works by Dieter Schnebel at the Mozartfest in Würzburg, Mozart’s Mass in C minor with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra and Berg’s Seven Early Songs with the Nordwestfälische Philharmonie. Joint recitals with the pianist Benjamin Mead have led them to the Schubertiada Vilabertran, the Schumannfest Düsseldorf and elsewhere. Her debut album on SoloMusica, celebrating 100 years of Les Six, and her second CD featuring songs by 24 women composers from the Romantic period to the present day, were highly praised by the international press for both her interpretation and her programmes. This journey of discovery is being continued with a recording of Swiss compositions in 2022. In 2017 she received the Cultural Endowment Award of the Canton of Valais and in 2018 she founded the “rhonefestival for the art of song” in her hometown of Brig.

The trio Gabriel Nietlispach Pupato is made up of Andreas Gabriel, Jürg Nietlispach and Andreas Pupato. Gabriel comes from a family in Nidwalden who have a direct connection to Swiss music traditions. He is a versatile violinist who likes to compose and to experiment with old songs, and he teaches the violin (specialising in folk music) at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. He is involved in various projects featuring new, experimental and traditional folk music, and performs at festivals in Switzerland and abroad. Jürg Nietlispach lives in Lucerne. He is an accomplished bass player, guitarist and neck-zither player and is a member of “Pflanzplätz”. He has also worked with Doppelbock and Nadja Räss’s “Stimmreise”. Nietlispach is no stranger to rock, and his string skills give a tangy feeling to the trio’s sound. Andi Pupato studied percussion in Zurich and African drumming in Senegal. This spectrum of activities makes him one of the most sought-after drummers and percussionists in Switzerland. He has worked with many artists including Polo Hofer, Gotthard, Stiller Has and especially Grandmother’s Funk, and he has also worked with Nik Bärtsch (Ronin), Andreas Vollenweider, Kol Simcha, Corin Curschellas and Thierry Lang. Numerous CD recordings and film soundtracks testify to the diversity of his work.

The Venezuelan pianist and composer Gabriela Montero made her debut at the age of eight with Haydn’s Piano Concerto in D major. She later studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London. She won the “Echo Klassik Award” in 2006 as the pianist of the year, and the “Echo Klassik ohne Grenzen” prize in 2007 for her CD “Bach & Beyond”. A Grammy nomination followed in 2008 for her album “Baroque”. Montero has been invited to perform with renowned orchestras such as the Chicago Symphony, the Leipzig Gewandhaus, the Cleveland Orchestra, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra.

Masterly playing on the cusp between folk music traditions and innovative ideas is the trademark of the “Gläuffig” ensemble. Rather like circus artistes for whom gravity does not seem to exist, Gläuffig juggles with Alpine folk music, familiar patterns and common clichés. Sometimes the results are light-footed and playful, at other times down-to-earth, indeed almost earthy, but always with lots of musicality and a sheer joy in performing.

Mathias Landtwing (clarinet), Fränggi Gehrig (accordion), Lukas Gernet (piano) and Pirmin Huber (double bass) came together in 2008 to form Gläuffig. They all have their musical roots in folk music, though they completed their music studies at the Lucerne University of Arts in different fields (folk music, jazz, classical music and composition) and have all developed into virtuoso instrumentalists. They are also all aware of their origins, and while they want to give traditional music a new substance and a new interpretative guise, they still want to treat folk music culture with the respect that it deserves. The ensemble’s repertoire ranges from traditional ländler music in the style of the legendary band “Heirassa” to modern, more advanced folk music.

Gläuffig regularly performs at concerts and renowned festivals. It has been a guest at the Zurich Tonhalle Festival for new folk music entitled “Stubete am See” (“folk jam session by the lake”), at the Jazz Night and the Accordion Festival in Zug, at the Alpenklang Festival at the Paul Klee Centre in Bern, at the Alpentöne Festival in Altdorf, and at the Suisse Diagonales Jazz Festival in Lucerne. The ensemble also plays at entertainment evenings and at traditional “Stubete” jam sessions.

The anniversary programme “Momentum” will also be released as an album. The music for this programme follows on seamlessly from Gläuffig’s earlier programme entitled “Gesellenwanderung” (“A journeyman’s wanderings”). This latter programme enjoyed great success at over 40 concerts and folk-music festivals at home and abroad, including in Altdorf, Lenzburg and Carinthia.

Gläuffig:
Mathias Landtwing, clarinet
Fränggi Gehrig, accordion
Pirmin Huber, double bass
Lukas V. Gernet, piano

Heinz Holliger is one of the most versatile, extraordinary Swiss musical personalities. He is one of the world’s most significant oboe virtuosos as well as being one of the most famous contemporary Swiss composers and a celebrated conductor.

Born in Langenthal in Canton Bern, Holliger studied the oboe in Bern with Emile Castagnaud and in Paris with Pierre Pierlot. Since 1963 he has been performing as a freelance soloist, setting new standards on his instrument. Contemporary composers have written works especially for him, including Hans Werner Henze, Krzysztof Penderecki, György Ligeti, Elliott Carter, Witold Lutoslawski, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Luciano Berio. Holliger is also the dedicatee of Frank Martin’s Three dances, which he premiered in 1970.

Heinz Holliger performs with the leading orchestras, including the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Philharmonia London, the Vienna Symphony and Philharmonic Orchestras, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Frankfurt Symphony Orchestra and the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra.

Renaissance woman Hélène Grimaud is not just a deeply passionate and committed musical artist whose pianistic accomplishments play a central role in her life. She is a woman with multiple talents that extend far beyond the instrument she plays with such poetic expression and peerless technical control. This French artist has established herself as a committed wildlife conservationist, a compassionate human rights activist and a writer.

Grimaud was born in 1969 in Aix-en-Provence and began her piano studies at the local conservatory with Jacqueline Courtin before going on to work with Pierre Barbizet in Marseille. She was accepted into the Paris Conservatoire at just 13 and won first prize in piano performance a mere three years later. She continued to study with György Sándor and Leon Fleisher until, in 1987, she gave her well-received debut recital in Tokyo. That same year, renowned conductor Daniel Barenboim invited her to perform with the Orchestre de Paris: this marked the launch of Grimaud’s musical career, characterised ever since by concerts with most of the world’s major orchestras and many celebrated conductors.

Between her debut in 1995 with the Berliner Philharmoniker under Claudio Abbado and her first performance with the New York Philharmonic under Kurt Masur in 1999 – just two of many notable musical milestones – Grimaud made a wholly different kind of debut: in upper New York State she established the Wolf Conservation Center. It is, however, through her thoughtful and tenderly expressive music-making that Hélène Grimaud most deeply touches the emotions of audiences. Fortunately, they have been able to enjoy her concerts worldwide, thanks to the extensive tours she undertakes as a soloist and recitalist. A committed chamber musician, she has also performed at the most prestigious festivals and cultural events with a wide range of musical collaborators, including Sol Gabetta, Rolando Villazón, Jan Vogler, Truls Mørk, Clemens Hagen, Gidon Kremer, Gil Shaham and the Capuçon brothers. Her prodigious contribution to and impact on the world of classical music were recognised by the French government when she was admitted into the Ordre National de la Légion d’Honneur (France’s highest decoration) at the rank of Chevalier (Knight).

Hélène Grimaud has been an exclusive Deutsche Grammophon artist since 2002. Her recordings have been critically acclaimed and awarded numerous accolades, among them the Cannes Classical Recording of the Year, Choc du Monde de la musique, Diapason d’or, Grand Prix du disque, Record Academy Prize (Tokyo), Midem Classic Award and the Echo Klassik Award.

Mathias Landtwing

Mathias Landtwing is committed to all manner of genres as an instrumentalist, composer and music educator. Born in 1985, he has performed in Switzerland, the rest of Europe and Japan, and in numerous television programmes (including a special edition of “Potzmusig” on his 30th birthday).

Kristina Brunner

Kristina Brunner was born in 1993. She studied both the cello (with a focus on folk music) and the “schwyzerörgeli” accordion at the Lucerne School of Music. She teaches the schwyzerörgeli and is also very active on the concert scene, especially in her duos with Evelyn Brunner and Albin Brun.

Simone Felber

Simone Felber studied vocal pedagogy and has performed as a guest at the Lucerne Theatre. At the same time, she is utterly fascinated by folk music – especially by yodelling. She performs at home and abroad with her trio “Simone Felbers iheimisch”. Since 2018, she has been a member of the women’s a-cappella quartet “famm” and directs the youth yodelling choir “jutz.ch”.

Laurent Girard

Laurent Girard was born in 1985. He completed his studies with a teaching diploma in piano. He performs with various bands in different styles and enjoys an active performing career on radio and TV. He also composes and arranges works to commission (for which he has won the Zurich Tonhalle Audience Award).

Pirmin Huber

Pirmin Huber is a multi-talented double bassist, composer and sound artist from Switzerland. He has established himself on today’s new Swiss folk music and electronic music scenes. His goal is to map out new territory when he brings together folk music, techno, jazz, classical and electronic music.

Andreas Gabriel

After completing his violin studies, Andreas Gabriel rediscovered his roots. He began researching into the lost fiddle music of Switzerland and experimented with old melodies. He was inspired by field recordings of various historical Swiss fiddle players and by today’s folk fiddlers from all over the world.

Jwan Steiner

Jwan Steiner and his band reached the Top Ten in 2018 with their album “One Lucky Sperm”. He is a member of the “Art on Ice” band, has performed together with Simply Red and Nelly Furtado, is involved with the Lucerne rap crew “GeilerAsDu”, and makes modern folk music. He loves this mix of styles – and others love it too.

The pianist Elena Bashkirova once said: “Chamber music is the soul of music”, and this conviction is evident in her varied work as a soloist, accompanist, chamber musician and programme curator. Bashkirova’s approach is one of empathetic collaboration when performing and communicating music.

In 1998, Bashkirova founded the Jerusalem International Chamber Music Festival, which she has organised as its Artistic Director every September since then. This chamber music festival, which brings together some of the most outstanding soloists from all over the world, has become a mainstay of cultural life in Israel. Since 2012, the Intonations Festival has also been held annually each April at the Jewish Museum in Berlin and has also attracted a great deal of attention. Together with the musicians of both festivals, Elena Bashkirova is a regular guest at the most important chamber music series in Europe and the rest of the world. In addition to her international tours, she performs at summer festivals such as the Lucerne Festival, the Rheingau Music Festival, the George Enescu Festival in Bucharest and the Beethovenfest Bonn. Several recordings with various musical constellations serve to document the highlights of the concerts curated by Bashkirova.

Elena Bashkirova’s programme in Andermatt will feature her with her chamber music partners: the renowned musicians Pablo Barragán (clarinet), Michael Barenboim (violin), Mohamed Hiber (violin), Gerard Caussé (viola), Sara Ferrandez (viola), Astrig Siranossian (cello), Ivan Karizna (cello) and Nabil Shehata (double bass). Together with Mojca Erdmann (soprano), Bashkirova and her fellow musicians will focus especially on the music of Mendelssohn in the second half of their evening concert. All these musicians have extensive international careers and have participated in either the Jerusalem Chamber Music Festival, the Intonations Festival in Berlin, or both.

The pianist Joseph Middleton specialises in the art of song accompaniment and chamber music and is internationally acclaimed in this field. The “BBC Music Magazine” has described him as “one of the brightest stars in the world of song and Lieder”, while “The Times” has labelled him “the cream of the new generation”, and “Opera Now” has declared him to be “a perfect accompanist”.

Recent seasons have taken Middleton to several renowned concert halls including London’s Wigmore Hall, the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Tokyo’s Oji Hall and New York’s Alice Tully Hall. He regularly appears at festivals across the world and at the BBC Proms. His fast-growing discography has won him a Diapason d’Or, an Edison Award, the Prix Caecilia and nominations for the awards of “Gramophone” and the “BBC Music Magazine”.

Joseph Middleton is the director of Leeds Lieder, musician-in-residence at Pembroke College Cambridge, and a professor and Fellow at his alma mater, the Royal Academy of Music.

Since launching his international career by winning the prestigious Swiss Ambassador’s Award in London and giving his debut recital at London’s Wigmore Hall in 2013, the Swiss pianist Joseph-Maurice Weder has continued to capture the attention of critics and audiences. In recent seasons he has performed at some of the most prestigious concert halls around the world including Carnegie Hall in New York, the Philharmonie in Berlin, the Musikverein in Vienna, the Laeiszhalle in Hamburg, the Wigmore Hall in London, the Zurich Tonhalle and the Konzerthaus in Vienna. He has also toured several times in South America and Europe. A sought-after soloist, he has performed with the Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie, the Kazakhstan Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, the Sinfonieorchester Basel, the Chamber Orchestra of the City of Bratislava, the Orquestra Sinfonica do Teatro Nacional de Brasilia and the Chamber Orchestra of the Bavarian Philharmonic. Joseph-Maurice Weder entered the Musikhochschule Basel at the age of 12 under the guidance of Prof. Adrian Oetiker. From 2011 until 2015 he studied with Prof. Filippo Gamba.

Julian Prégardien was born in Frankfurt. He is an internationally outstanding representative of today’s young generation of singers. As an opera singer, he has made guest appearances at the Festival d’Aix en Provence, at the Hamburg and Bavarian State Operas, and at the Opéra Comique in Paris. He gave his debut at the Salzburg Festival in 2018, followed a year later by his debut at the Berlin State Opera as Tamino in a new production of Mozart’s “Magic Flute”. At the “Mozart Week” in 2023 he gave his first performance as Don Ottavio in Mozart’s “Don Giovanni”, under the baton of András Schiff. His activity as an artist includes a special focus on song recitals and chamber music projects. At the Schleswig-Holstein Festival, for example, he has curated a Brahms evening, and he also gives recitals at venues such as the Konzerthaus in Dortmund, the Cologne Philharmonic, the Alte Oper in Frankfurt, the Wigmore Hall in London and the Amsterdam Concertgebouw. He is a professor of singing at the University of Music and Theatre in Munich, a member of the Schumann Network and the artistic director of the Brentano Academy in Aschaffenburg

Lena-Lisa Wüstendörfer is the Music Director of the Swiss Orchestra and a pioneer of the Swiss symphonic repertoire. Together with the Swiss Orchestra and renowned soloists such as Oliver Schnyder, Heinz Holliger or Marie-Claude Chappuis, she performs little-known treasures of Swiss music together with masterpieces of concert literature. Wüstendörfer is in demand internationally as a guest conductor, and her engagements have taken her to renowned orchestras such as the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, the Thailand Philharmonic, the Frankfurt Opera and Museum Orchestra, the Musikkollegium Winterthur, the Filharmonia Pomorska, the Camerata Switzerland, the Basel Sinfonietta, the Sinfonietta Bern, the Orchestre Symphonique du Jura and the Zakhar Bron Festival Orchestra. Since 2022, Lena-Lisa Wüstendörfer has been the Intendant of Andermatt Music.

Born in Zurich in 1983, Lena-Lisa Wüstendörfer studied the violin and conducting at the Basel Music Academy, and musicology and economics at the University of Basel, where she also took her doctorate in musicology. She furthered her conducting studies with Sylvia Caduff and Sir Roger Norrington, and has worked as assistant conductor to Claudio Abbado. In addition to her concert activities, she also publishes in the history of reception and interpretation and undertakes research into Swiss music history.

The award-winning string ensemble LGT Young Soloists (sponsored by LGT Private Banking) is made up of highly gifted young soloists aged 14 to 23 and brings together musicians from more than 15 nations. Unique throughout the world, the project gives high-carat young talents the opportunity to perform regularly on the world’s leading stages, enthralling audiences with their highly professional performances as soloists, chamber and orchestral musicians: “If you didn’t know that young teenagers are playing here, you would think you were in the midst of a top ensemble” (das Orchester, 2017).

The last seasons included many highlights: legendary composer Philip Glass has written a new string symphony, which has been premiered in September at Vienna’s Musikverein and the Royal College of Music in London. Further concerts and tours took the ensemble to the Young Euro Classic Festival at the Konzerthaus Berlin, the Music Festival in Merano, the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, the Stefaniensaal in Graz and many others. During past seasons, the LGT Young Soloists have appeared at Berlin’s Philharmonie, the Tonhalle Zurich, Vienna’s Musikverein, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, the Philharmonie Luxembourg, De Doelen in Rotterdam, the Victoria Hall in Singapore and at renowned festivals such as the Rheingau Music Festival, Woordfees Festival in South Africa, the Dresden Music Festival and Abu Dhabi Classics. Only two years after they were founded, the LGT Young Soloists were the world’s first youth orchestra to record for RCA Red Seal. The ensemble’s discography already includes six albums, the most recent being the world premiere recording of Philip Glass’ 14th Symphony, which the composer wrote especially for the LGT Young Soloists. Commemorating Beethoven’s 250th birthday in 2020, the LGT Young Soloists released “Beethoven RECOMPOSED” on the Naxos label. The CD topped the Apple Music Video Classical Charts in more than 40 countries, garnering outstanding reviews from international music journalists.

The violinist and pedagogue Alexander Gilman and the pianist Marina Seltenreich partnered with LGT Private Banking in 2013 to unite high-carat young soloists in one ensemble.

Strings, woodwind and a rhythm section: the instrumental line-up of this ten-member ensemble is as extraordinary as the music of its bandleader, Luzia von Wyl.

This Swiss pianist and composer has made an international name for herself with her ten-piece contemporary jazz orchestra, the Luzia von Wyl Ensemble. She composes all the works played by her Ensemble, and she herself sits at the piano for their concerts. Luzia von Wyl also regularly writes to commission for a wide variety of musicians, ensembles and orchestras. She is currently composing works for the Zurich Chamber Orchestra with Till Brönner, and for Bösendorfer in Vienna.

“This Swiss composer has her very own style – so convincing, thrilling and exhilarating that comparisons are superfluous”, wrote the German magazine Jazzthetik. And after the Ensemble’s debut at the Lucerne Festival, the Luzerner Zeitung wrote: “An airy sound, brilliant virtuosity, minimalist elements and a really special groove: Luzia von Wyl’s well-nigh inexhaustible inspiration pulsates through all these pieces. This is great art”.

And indeed, it is truly an experience to hear these ingeniously crafted compositions live – not least on account of the nine highly expressive musicians for whom Luzia von Wyl writes her tailor-made works. Their audience experiences at first hand their interaction, emotions and sheer joy in playing – all of which are hallmarks of the concerts given by the Luzia von Wyl Ensemble.

The Ensemble was founded ten years ago as a composing workshop. Meanwhile, the Ensemble today plays at festivals all across Europe and beyond, such as at the Swiss Days in Dubai (UAE), the Lucerne Festival (CH), the Schaffhausen Jazz Festival (CH), the Mosel Festival Trier (DE) and the London New Wind Festival (UK). Up to now, the Ensemble has also released two studio albums, both of which received much international acclaim: Frost in 2014 and Throwing Coins in 2018, both released on the HatHut Records label.

Line-Up:
Luzia von Wyl, piano and compositions
Roman Glaser, flute
Nicola Katz, clarinet
Marcel Lüscher, bass clarinet
Maurus Conte, bassoon
Vincent Millioud, violin
Karolina Öhman, cello
Jeremias Keller, bass
Luca Staffelbach, marimba
Lionel Friedli, percussion

The pianist Magda Amara is both a soloist and one of the most sought-after chamber musicians. She has performed in renowned concert halls such as the Musikverein and Konzerthaus in Vienna, the Salzburg Mozarteum, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Hamburg Laeiszhalle, the Barbican Hall in London, the Festspielhaus in Baden-Baden and the Zurich Tonhalle. Her engagements have taken her to the most important concert halls in Europe and beyond, in Russia, Canada and the USA. Amara has given guest performances at international festivals such as the Lucerne Festival, the Dvořákova in Prague, the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, the Sion Festival, the Festival de Radio France in Montpellier, the Best of NRW, the Neuberger Cultural Days and the Attergauer Cultural Summer, and she has enjoyed successful collaborations with the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, the North Netherlands Orchestra, the Cairo Symphony Orchestra, the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra of Brno and others.

Magda Amara has shared her passion for chamber music with outstanding partners such as Janine Jansen, Julian Rachlin, Renaud Capuçon, Daniel Lozakovich and Baiba Skride, as well as with members of the Vienna and Berlin Philharmonics. She has enjoyed a particularly close musical partnership with the Dutch cellist Harriet Krijgh, resulting in two CDs for the Austrian label Capriccio and one for Deutsche Grammophon. In 2018, she released a CD of Kabalevsky’s Rhapsody for Piano and Orchestra, accompanied by the German State Philharmonic Orchestra Rheinland-Pfalz conducted by Karl-Heinz Steffens.

Magda Amara was born in Moscow and graduated from Sergei Dorensky’s class at the P. I. Tchaikovsky State Conservatory. She then furthered her studies in Vienna with Stefan Vladar at the University of Music and Performing Arts, and has won prizes in many national and international competitions.

Marco Kunz was born in Mauensee in Canton Lucerne in 1985. At the age of 20, he joined the successful a-cappella group “a-live” and worked as its music director for three years. The first album by the band KUNZ, “Eifach so”, was released in 2014 and went gold. His second album was entitled “Mundart Folk” and entered the Swiss hit parade at number 1. In 2016, KUNZ won the Prix Walo Newcomer’s Award. Their latest album, “Förschi”, in which the band is joined by brass and piano, was released in 2019 and offers an optimistic look into the future.

Maria Gehrig was born in 1988 and grew up in Andermatt in Canton Uri. She learned to play the recorder at the age of four, and the violin at eight. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the Lucerne University of Music in 2011 (specialising in classical music with Igor Karsko and folk music with Noldi Alder), and completed her Master in music education in 2013. Her main focus is on folk music. Besides playing in her own trio, InterFolk, and the string quartet Eiger Mönch & UrSchwyz, she also plays with her brother in the duo Fränggi & Maria Gehrig, in the Fränggi Gehrig Quintet, the Hüüsmüsig Gehrig and with the Irish folk band Cottage.

German-Brazilian tenor Martin Muehle has been praised for his vocal prowess and dramatic intensity on stage in some of the most challenging tenor roles.

The highlights of the Saison 2022/23 are Calaf in Barrie Kosky’s new production of Turandot at the Dutch National Opera under the baton of Lorenzo Viotti, Des Grieux (Manon Lescaut) at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and Calaf at Teatro Real Madrid.

The 2020-21 season saw Mr. Muehle´s house debut at the Oper Frankfurt as Chevalier Renato des Grieux in Puccini´s Manon Lescaut, as well as his role debut as Otello at the Hanover State Opera. He returned to the Deutsche Oper Berlin as Calaf in Puccini’s Turandot, and to the Prague National Theatre for the title role in Andrea Chénier, as well as to the Oper Köln as Don José in Bizet’s Carmen and to the Konzert Theater Bern as Pollione in Bellini´s Norma. As concert soloist he took the stage with the Münchner Rundfunkorchester for an opera gala, as well as with the Stuttgarter Philharmoniker in Liszt´s Faust Symphony.

Mr. Muehle opened the 2019-20 season with his return to Oper Köln as Don José, followed by his debut at the Liceu Theatre in Barcelona as Turiddu in Mascagni’s Cavelleria Rusticana and Canio in Leoncavallo´s Pagliacci conducted by Henrik Nánási. He returned to the Deutsche Oper Berlin in the title role of Giordano’s Andrea Chénier, a role he also portrayed in previous seasons at Teatro Comunale di Modena, Teatro Regio di Parma, Teatro Reggio di Emilia, Fondazione Teatro di Piacenza and the National Theatre in Prague. He was scheduled to return to the Bolshoi Theatre as Don José and to have his house debut at the Grand Théâtre de Genève in 2020-21 as Calaf. Further planned engagements affected by corona included his role debut as Herman in a new production of Tchaikovsky’s Pique Dame at Deutsche Oper Berlin, as well as the role of Canio in Pagliacci at The Israeli Opera.

In previous seasons, Mr. Muehle performed Don José in Bizet’s Carmen at Staatsoper Hamburg and at the Bolshoi Theatre, the latter conducted by Tugan Sokhiev. He gave his US and house debut at Seattle Opera as Manrico in Verdi’s Il Trovatore and returned to Oper Köln as Calaf in Turandot, a role he also sang at Deutsche Oper Berlin. He also performed again in Teatro Massimo in Palermo as Canio in Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci conducted by Daniel Oren and debuted at Arena di Verona in the roles of Don José and Radames in Verdi’s Aida.

Further highlights from recent seasons include his role and house debut opposite Angela Gheorgiu at Teatro Massimo in Palermo as Maurizio in Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur, his role debut as Manrico in a new production of Il Trovatore at Konzert Theater Bern, as well as his role debut singing the title role in Wagner’s Lohengrin in a new production by Vincent Boussard at Theater St. Gallen. He has also sung Don José at the National Theatre in Prague, Konzert Theater Bern, the Bregenz Festival in 2017 and 2018, Oper Graz, Nationaltheater Mannheim, and Theater St. Gallen and in Buenos Aires.

In prior seasons at Nationaltheater Mannheim, where he was in the ensemble from 2013 to 2015, he portrayed roles such as Hagenbach in Catalani’s La Wally, Faust in Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust, Gabriele Adorno in Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra, as well as Puccini roles such as Calaf in Turandot and Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, the title role in a new production of Verdi‘s Stiffelio and Fritz in Schreker’s Der ferne Klang, as well as the title role in Wagner’s Lohengrin.

Further past engagements include Andrea Chénier at Teatro Petruzelli in Bari, Des Grieux in Puccini’s Manon Lescaut in São Paolo, Faust in Arrigo Boito’s Mefistofele and Arrigo in Verdi’s I Vespri Siciliani at Theater Freiburg, Pollione in Bellini’s Norma at Theater St. Gallen, Luigi in Puccini’s Il tabarro at Theater Bielefeld, Radames in Aida at the St. Margarethen Festival, Siegmund in Wagner’s Die Walküre at Theater Detmold, and Calaf at Teatro Filarmonico in Verona. In South America Mr. Muehle made a name for himself singing roles such as Turiddu in Brasilia, and Siegmund in Die Walküre in La Plata and at Theatro Municipal in São Paulo, where he also sang Alfonso in Korngold’s Violanta and Guido in Zemlinsky’s Eine florentinische Tragödie.

He has appeared in concert as soloist in Verdi’s Requiem with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester and Rundfunkchor Berlin under the baton of Simon Halsey at the Berlin Philharmonie, as well as at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig with the MDR Symphony, in Das Lied von der Erde conducted by Dan Ettinger in Mannheim and has worked with the Croatian Radio Symphony Orchestra in Zagreb. He has also sung Gounod’s St. Cecilia Mass at the Theatro Municipal in São Paulo, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 at the Cathedral of Porto Alegre and at Palácio das Artes in Belo Horizonte.

He is featured on the critically acclaimed Naxos recording of Zandonai’s Francesca da Rimini in the role of Paolo il bello with the Philharmonic Orchestra Freiburg under Fabrice Bollon.

Martin Muehle was born in Porto Alegre in Brazil and studied at the Musikhochschule in Lübeck, Germany.

The award-winning conductor Marzena Diakun came to international acclaim in Paris in the 2015/16 season after several concerts with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. She has been the Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of ORCAM since 2021. Her recent engagements have included concerts with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Liverpool Philharmonic, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz and the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra. She has worked with such soloists as Martin Grubinger, Peter Jablonski, Andreas Staier and Ewa Kupiec, with the cellists Truls Mørk and Daniel Müller-Schott, the singers Camilla Nylund, Klaus Florian Vogt, Catherine Wyn-Rogers, Nathalie Stutzmann, Sabine Devieilhe and Jean-François Lapointe, and the violinists Linus Roth, Michael Guttman and Alena Baeva.

In 2010, Marzena Diakun completed her Doctor of Musical Arts at the Cracow Academy of Music. She is currently a conducting professor at the Karol Lipiński Academy of Music in Wrocław, where she has run her own conducting class since 2013. Her prizes and awards include second prize at the prestigious 59th Prague Spring Competition for Conductors in the Czech Republic and at the 9th Fitelberg International Competition for Conductors in Poland (2012) and the “Polityka Passport” for the best artist in classical music in 2016; in 2019, she was nominated for the Classical:NEXT Innovation Award.

A multifaceted musician, Masato Suzuki appears on the concert platform in the capacity of conductor, composer and keyboard player. On the conducting podium, this season sees Suzuki return to both the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony and Tokyo Symphony Orchestras as well as making his debut as a conductor with the NHK Symphony Orchestra, having performed Copland’s ”Symphony for Organ and Orchestra” with them last season. His repertoire is varied with many programmes featuring contrasting composers including works by Bach, Berlioz, Mendelssohn, Prokofiev, Rameau, Stravinsky and Takemitsu.

As Principal Conductor of Bach Collegium Japan, Suzuki made his subscription series conducting debut with the ensemble directing Bach’s ”St John Passion” and Monteverdi’s” L’Incoronazione di Poppea”; on tour, he has taken them to the Thüringen Bachwochen and last season to the Varazdin Baroque Festival. 2019 sees BIS release the first disc of the complete Bach Harpsichord concerti Suzuki has recorded with Bach Collegium Japan leading from the keyboard. Suzuki makes his conducting debut with the Singapore Symphony and the Academy of Ancient Music in London this season following his debut at the Edinburgh Festival with musicians from the Dunedin Consort. Other festival appearances as a recitalist and chamber musician include the Chofu International Music Festival (of which he is Artistic Director and Executive Producer), Schleswig Holstein and Verbier. He continues a collaboration with violist Antoine Tamestit touring an all Bach programme centred on the three viola da gamba sonatas; their recording of these works was released by Harmonia Mundi in 2019.

Suzuki studied Composition and Early Music at the Tokyo University for Fine Arts and Music before studying Organ and Improvisation at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague.

The Swiss tenor Mauro Peter studied in Munich and has been a member of the ensemble of the Zurich Opera since 2013. He also sings at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, the Semperoper in Dresden, La Scala Milan, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden and the Theater an der Wien, and is a regular guest at the Salzburg Festival.

Through his broad concert activity, Mauro Peter has developed a large concert repertoire and has performed with conductors such as Ivor Bolton, Constantinos Carydis, Teodor Currentzis, Gustavo Dudamel, Ádám Fischer, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Philippe Herreweghe, Vladimir Jurowski, Zubin Mehta, Trevor Pinnock and Andrés Orozco-Estrada.

His collaboration with Nikolaus Harnoncourt was of exceptional importance. He has also given song recitals at the Vienna Musikverein and Konzerthaus, the Wigmore Hall, the Konzerthaus Berlin, the Cologne Philharmonie, the Pierre Boulez Saal, etc. In the summer of 2022, Mauro Peter can be heard as Tamino in Mozart’s “Magic Flute” at the Salzburg Festival and will then sing the same role at the opening of the new season at the Opera National de Paris.

Performing Schoenberg’s Violin Concerto under Pierre Boulez in the Cologne Philharmonic marked the beginning of a remarkable career for Michael Barenboim (*1985). Following this celebrated debut, he has since performed the Schoenberg Concerto with the Vienna Philharmonic under Daniel Barenboim, the Chicago Symphony under Asher Fisch, the Israel Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta, and the Berlin Philharmonic under Vasily Petrenko. Michael regularly gives solo recitals in the world’s most prestigious concert halls, such as the Wigmore Hall in London, the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, the Sydney Opera House and the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples. He has presented a programme with works by Pierre Boulez in Carnegie Hall, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Opéra National de Paris, the Barbican Centre in London, the Dortmund Konzerthaus and the Salzburg Festival.

As a member of the Boulez Ensemble, Michael Barenboim has premiered numerous new works by composers such as Jörg Widmann, Kareem Rouston and many others. He is a professor for violin and chamber music at the Barenboim-Said Akademie in Berlin and has been the academy’s Dean since 2020. In addition, he and seven other selected members of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra founded the West-Eastern Divan Ensemble in 2020 and were able to complete a 13-concert tour of the USA shortly before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. Among Michael’s last solo performances before the lockdown were Alban Berg’s Violin Concerto with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic under Robert Trevino and Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 1 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Gustavo Dudamel. Michael Barenboim’s first solo album featured compositions by Bach and Bartók as well as Boulez’s “Anthèmes 1 & 2”. In 2018 there followed a CD with works by Tartini, Berio, Paganini and Sciarrino. For Deutsche Grammophon, Michael has recorded the Mozart piano quartets and trios as well as the complete Beethoven piano trios – together with Kian Soltani and Daniel Barenboim.

Michael von der Heide “A new star is born”, raved the critics when Michael von der Heide released his first album at the age of 25 in 1996. He grew up in the mountain village of Amden, and is notable for his musical versatility, beguiling charm and biting wit. Von der Heide has meanwhile released his 13th album, “ECHO”. He has toured all manner of countries, appeared on countless TV shows and performed several times in productions by Christoph Marthaler in the Zurich Schauspielhaus, the Avignon Opera, the Théâtre National de l’Odéon in Paris and the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, etc. He was awarded the Prix Walo in 1999, the German Cabaret Prize in 2000, and his recordings have gone gold several times.

The Musikkollegium Winterthur has been under the direction of its Chief Conductor Roberto González-Monjas since 2021. It was founded in 1629 and thus enjoys one of the richest histories of any musical institution in Europe. In addition to playing contemporary music, its repertoire focuses on the music of the Classical and Early-Romantic periods. The Musikkollegium plays more than 40 concerts in a season and is also notable for its varied music education programme and its interdisciplinary formats. Its former Chief Conductors (such as Thomas Zehetmair), its long-standing guest conductors (such as Heinz Holliger) and also its international, in-demand soloists (such as Sir András Schiff, Ian Bostridge and Carolin Widmann) have also contributed to maintaining the high quality of the orchestra.

Noldi Alder was born in Urnäsch in Canton Appenzell Ausserrhoden in 1953. He discovered his love of folk music at an early age, and took violin lessons at the age of seven. After training as a millwright and an intensive study of violin making, he was already 35 when he decided to devote himself completely to his great passion once more, and completed a degree in classical music with Paul Giger (majoring in violin). Since 1996, Alder has worked freelance in the fields of classical, folk and salon music, composition and arrangement. Together with his former teacher and colleague Paul Giger, he founded the “Neue Appenzeller String Music Project”. In addition to appearances at renowned festivals such as Saitenwind in Wildhaus in 2007 and ARAI 500 in Hundwil in 2013, where he figured as artistic director, Alder has also composed for film and theatre. In his concerts, he can be heard on the violin, as a singer, and also on the traditional hammered dulcimer. This instrument is especially important to him in his improvisations. He was awarded the first-ever Culture Prize of Canton Appenzell Ausserrhoden in 2008, and was also awarded the Swiss Music Prize in 2018.

Alder is regarded a “rebel” on the folk-music scene and as a constant innovator in the field of traditional natural yodelling and traditional folk music. His work constantly oscillates between the traditional and the improvisational and is strongly influenced by handed-down Appenzell dances and the natural yodelling melodies called “Zäuerli” – the original yodelling sounds of the Säntis foothills. In Andermatt, six dance music pieces will be played that Alder has either composed or arranged for string orchestra. With the exception of the natural yodel “Zitt isch gsiä”, these are all dance pieces that are also wonderfully suited for concert performance.

The Orquesta de la Comunidad de Madrid (ORCAM) was founded in 1987. Miguel Groba and José Ramón Encinar directed it until Víctor Pablo Pérez was appointed principal conductor in 2013. Since 2021, Marzena Diakun has been the Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of ORCAM, which has also worked with numerous guest conductors such as Lorin Maazel, Krysztof Penderecki and Cristóbal Halffter. ORCAM has been the in-house orchestra of the Teatro de la Zarzuela for more than 20 years, and is a regular guest at the Auditorio Nacional de Madrid, the Teatro Real, the Teatros del Canal and the Teatro Auditorio de San Lorenzo de El Escorial. ORCAM has also performed in the world’s most renowned concert venues, such as Carnegie Hall in New York, La Fenice in Venice, the Lingotto in Turin, the Arsenal in Metz and the Konzerthaus in Berlin. It has also played at music festivals in Latin America and Asia.

Pablo Sáinz-Villegas has been acclaimed by the international press as the successor of Andrés Segovia and as an ambassador of Spanish culture in the world. Since his debut with the New York Philharmonic under the baton of Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos at the Lincoln Center, he has played in more than 40 countries and has been invited to play with orchestras such as the Berliner Philharmoniker, the Chicago Symphony, the Israel Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the National Orchestra of Spain, making him a benchmark for the symphonic guitar.

Plácido Domingo has described him as “the master of the guitar”, and he has had the privilege of recording his new duo album with Domingo. His “virtuosic playing characterized by irresistible exuberance” (“The New York Times”) make him one of the soloists most acclaimed by prestigious directors, orchestras and festivals. Pablo Sáinz-Villegas has already appeared on some of the world’s most prestigious stages, including Carnegie Hall in New York, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow, the Musikverein in Vienna and the National Arts Centre in Beijing. The success of his performances has translated into repeated invitations from directors such as Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Carlos Kalmar, Juanjo Mena and Alondra de la Parra. As a regular guest in concerts organised by institutions and businesses, he has also had the privilege of playing before members of the Spanish Royal Family as well as other heads of state and international leaders.

Peter Zimmermann was born in Berlin, grew up in Dübendorf, and studied at the Bern Conservatory of Music and Theatre. For several years he lived variously in Germany and Austria before coming back to Switzerland, where he was engaged at various theatres. For 20 years he has been directing, acting, singing and dancing up and down the country. On one occasion he wasn’t far from Andermatt, when he took part in the Uri Theatre’s production of “Zum Parkplatz” in Realp and Göschenen on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of William Tell. Most recently, he could be seen at Theatre 11 in Zurich in the musical “Oh läck du mir!”. In the summer of 2023, he will be in the production “Geld und Geist” in Canton Baselland organised by the theatre company “Text und Töne”. Together with Timo Schlüssel, he has already performed with the Kammermusiker Zürich at “Night in the Tonhalle”.

The Philharmonic String Quartet represents the young generation of musicians of the Berlin Philharmonic: cosmopolitan, versatile and artistically passionate. In the winter of 2018, three young Philharmonic members – Helena Madoka Berg (violin), Dorian Xhoxhi (violin) and Naoko Shimizu (viola) – founded a new ensemble out of a desire to make music together with enthusiasm. Together with Christoph Heesch (cello), who brings his experience as a soloist to this intimate setting of making music, they strive to inspire their listeners with fresh impulses and outstanding sound quality.

The musicians are aware that they are following in great footsteps: with the Philharmonic String Quartet they are continuing the venerable tradition of the Berlin Philharmonic’s ensembles, making chamber music at the highest level. All four musicians have won various top-class competitions and have vast experience in various chamber music formations. The Philharmonic String Quartet offers them the opportunity to create their own musical expression. They feel less committed to a certain style than to their virtuosity, and they follow the motto of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: “… because we love to talk to all kinds of masters – with the old and modern”.

Their repertoire includes works by the Viennese classics Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Joseph Haydn and Ludwig van Beethoven, the great Romantics Franz Schubert, Robert Schumann and Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, and important 20th-century composers such as Paul Hindemith, Anton Webern and Maurice Ravel.

French conductor Pierre Bleuse is fast becoming one of the most exciting and sought-after conductors. He is Chief Conductor of Odense Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Artistic Director of renowned Pablo Casals Festival in Prades (France). From the 2023/24 season he will also succeed Matthias Pintscher as the Music Director of the Ensemble intercontemporain. He regularly works with some of the most sought-after international soloists such as Sol Gabetta, Bertrand Chamayou and Emmanuel Pahud and orchestras such as Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre National de France, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, NDR RadioPhilharmonie Hannover, MDR Sinfonieorchester-Leipzig, Tokyo Symphony, Brussels Philharmonic and Utah Symphony.

Piotr Beczala is one of the most sought after lyric tenors of our time and a constant guest in the world’s leading opera houses. The Polish-born artist is acclaimed not only for the beauty of his voice, but also for his ardent commitment to each character he portrays. In addition to his operatic work, he has sung many of the great vocal works with the world’s most distinguished orchestras and maestri.

The 22/23 season begins for Piotr Beczala on the opera stage of the Vienna State Opera singing the role of Don José in Bizet’s Carmen. He is then at the Teatro Real in Madrid in a revival of Hugo de Ana’s historic production of Verdi’s Aida (Radamès). He returns to the Metropolitan Opera New York and performs the role of Count Loris in David McVicar’s new production of Umberto Giordano’s exciting drama Fedora, alongside Sonya Yoncheva, as the Russian Princess, Rosa Feola as Countess Olga and baritone Artur Ruciński as diplomat De Siriex, conducted by Maestro Marco Armiliato. The opera can be seen as a live cinema broadcast in the MET’s award-winning Live in HD series, around the world. His second opera production at the MET is Wagner’s masterpiece Lohengrin, in which he sings the title role of the mysterious Swan Knight. It is staged by François Girard and conducted by music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Back in Europe, he sings the roles of Lohengrin in Wagner’s Lohengrin and Cavaradossi in Puccini’s Tosca at the Vienna State Opera. He ends the season on the opera stage at the Zurich Opera House as Calaf in Puccini’s Turandot. On the concert stage he opens the season of the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb with a gala concert. With the choir and orchestra of the Teatro Real he performs Verdi’s Requiem in Burgos Cathedral in Spain and gives a recital with pianist Camillo Radicke in San Sebastián. As part of the Great Voices series, he can be heard with the Munich Symphony Orchestra at the Isarphilharmonie and with the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra at the Vienna Konzerthaus, both concerts conducted by Maestro Marco Boemi. Further concerts will take place at the Palm Beach Opera, at the Vienna State Opera, in Pamplona and in Ljubljana. He also sings two gala concerts at the Gran Teatro del Liceu in Barcelona together with soprano Sondra Radvanovsky.

Last season, the tenor sang Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 at the Semperoper Dresden with the Staatskapelle Dresden, under the baton of Christian Thielemann, and gave several recitals together with pianist Helmut Deutsch at the Theater im Park in Vienna, the Philharmonie Luxembourg, the Musikverein Graz, among others. He performed a concert as part of the Great Voices concert series in Linz, went to the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg and took a recital tour through South America. On the opera stage, Piotr Beczala sang the role of Manrico in Verdi’s Il trovatore at the Zurich Opera House, followed by two opera productions at the Metropolitan Opera New York, once Verdi’s Rigoletto (Duke of Mantua) and Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin (Lenski). At the Munich State Opera, he performed as Cavardossi in Puccinis’s Tosca and as Riccardo in Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera.

Since his debut as Duca in 2006, Piotr Beczala has been a regular guest at the Metropolitan Opera. Since then, he has sung Prince (Rusalka), Edgardo (Lucia di Lammermoor), Rodolfo (La bohème), Vaudémont (Iolanta), Riccardo as well as the title roles in Roméo et Juliette and Faust. In 2011 he accompanied the Met to Japan and made his role debut in 2012 as Grieux in Massenet’s Manon. In 2016 he made his debut as Lohengrin at the Semperoper Dresden alongside Anna Netrebko under the musical direction of Christian Thielemann. In addition, the Vienna State Opera’s Kammersänger performed at the famous opera house as Werther in Werther, as Ein Sänger in Der Rosenkavalier and as Don José in Carmen, among many other roles. Other highlights include Lucia di Lammermoor (Edgardo) at the Zurich Opera House and Massenet’s Werther at the Teatr Wielki in Warsaw. The tenor can also be heard regularly at the State Opera in Munich, Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Teatro Real in Madrid and at La Scala in Milan.

In addition to his opera career, Piotr Beczala is a much sought-after concert and lied singer. In 2020-21, Piotr Beczala sang together with soprano Sondra Radvanovsky at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, gave a beneficial concert at the Konzerthaus Vienna, at the Teatr Wielki in Warsaw and went to the Auditorio in Bilbao. He also joined the stage with Plácido Domingo for a gala concert at the Bolshoi-Theatre in Moscow and was part of the Met Stars Live in Concert series with soprano Sondra Radvanovsky (January 2021). He sang Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with the Orquesta Nacional de España under the baton of David Afkham at the Auditorio Nacional de Música in Madrid, Verdi’s Messa da Requiem at the Grafenegg Festival, gave a concert with soprano Camilla Nylund at the Brixen Classics Festival and sang at the famous Concert de Paris at the Eiffel Tower on July 14th, 2021. Recital tours took him with pianist Sarah Tysman to Spain and with pianist Camillo Radicke to South America. Further concert appearances have taken him to Baden-Baden, Amsterdam, Madrid, Budapest, Vienna, Milan and Oman.

Piotr Beczala has released two solo albums for Deutsche Grammophon, “My Heart’s Delight” in 2013 and “The French Collection” in 2015. In 2012, he sang the New Year’s Eve concerts at the Semperoper in Dresden, which were directed by Christian Thielemann and released on CD and DVD by Deutsche Grammophon. A DVD of his stunning debut in the title role of Lohengrin opposite Anna Netrebko as Elsa was released internationally in 2017. His first solo album on Pentatone featuring versimo arias “Vincerò!” was released in May 2020.

In 2014, Mr. Beczala was awarded at the ECHO Klassik Awards as “Singer of the Year” as well as the Opus Klassik for the same category in 2021. In 2019 he was honoured as Kammersänger of the Vienna State Opera and received an honorary doctorate (Dr. h. c.) from the Katowice Academy of Music in 2022.

Raphael Immoos, from Brunnen, Schwyz, a longstanding professor for choral conducting and head of Choral and Orchestral Sessions at the Hochschule für Musik Basel. Conductor of the Akademisches Orchester Basel from 2000 to 2013. Artistic director of the Basler Madrigalisten since 2013, and of the Sommerakademie Thun since 2015. Frequent radio and CD recordings, guest appearances, as well as selection committee activities and master classes at home and abroad. He is particularly interested in researching rarely performed works of the 19th and 20th centuries, especially Swiss music, and in cultivating and promoting new music of our time.

“… moments of sheer poetry”
Süddeutsche Zeitung

“Probably the most successful German cellist of our time”
Rondo Magazin

Highly virtuosic and full of drive, passionate and technically brilliant, versatile and charming – there are hardly any other cellists who are able to captivate their audiences the way Raphaela Gromes does. Whether as a soloist with orchestra, as a duo in chamber music or alongside a wind quartet, the young cellist always leaves everyone spellbound with both her fantastically ambitious and remarkably effortless playing. Raphaela Gromes’s album “Offenbach” was awarded the 2020 OPUS KLASSIK prize in the category “chamber music recording”. Her album “Richard Strauss – Cello Sonatas” featured another world premiere recording – of the original version of Strauss’s Sonata op. 6 – and received the “Diapason Nouveauté” award. In February 2021, her album “Klengel – Schumann: Romantic Cello Concertos” received the Diapason d’Or. Her last album, “Imagination”, released in October 2021, is now being followed by a new album entitled “Femmes”, released on the SONY label.

In the 2022/23 season, Raphaela Gromes is Artist in Residence at the Staatstheater Augsburg and makes her debuts with the Belgian National Orchestra in Brussels and the hr-Sinfonieorchester. In addition, she performs at Frauenkirche Dresden, the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, with the Tonkünstler-Orchester and in Munich’s Prinzregententheater with Festival Strings Lucerne.

Raphaela Gromes plays a cello by Carlo Bergonzi provided to her from a private source. She is a cultural ambassador for SOS Children’s Villages worldwide.

Through his uniquely compelling performances in leading opera houses and with orchestras around the world, Rolando Villazón has firmly established himself as one of the music world’s most critically acclaimed and beloved stars and as one of the leading tenors of our time. Rolando Villazón is among the most versatile artists of today, maintaining successful careers as a stage director, novelist, and TV personality next to his on-stage career.

Born in Mexico City, he began his musical studies at the national conservatory of his home country before joining the junior programmes at the opera houses in Pittsburgh and at the San Francisco Opera. Rolando Villazón quickly made a name for himself on the international music scene after winning several prizes at Plácido Domingo’s “Operalia” competition in 1999 (including the Zarzuela Prize and the Audience Prize). This was followed in the same year by his European debut as Des Grieux in Massenet’s “Manon” in Genoa and debuts as Alfredo in “La Traviata” at the Opéra de Paris and as Macduff in Verdi’s “Macbeth” at the Berlin State Opera. Since then, Rolando Villazón has been a regular guest at the State Operas of Berlin, Munich and Vienna, La Scala Milan, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera New York and the Salzburg Festival, working with leading orchestras and renowned conductors such as Daniel Barenboim and Yannick Nézet-Séguin. In 2011 Rolando Villazón made his debut as a director in Lyon and since then has directed for the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf, the Vienna Volksoper and the Semperoper in Dresden.

In the 2021-22 season he is returning to the Metropolitan Opera in New York for the role of Papageno in Mozart’s “Magic Flute” and is touring throughout Europe with the harpist Xavier de Maistre and their recital programme “Serenata Latina”, with performances at the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, the Musikverein in Graz, the Konzerthaus in Freiburg and the Liederhalle in Stuttgart. Rolando Villazón celebrated his 50th birthday with a high-profile benefit gala concert on 21 February 2022 at the Haus für Mozart in Salzburg. He will end the current season by directing “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” at both the Salzburg Whitsun Festival and the 2022 Salzburg Festival.

Rudolf Buchbinder is one of the legendary performers of our time. The authority of a career spanning more than 60 years is uniquely combined with esprit and spontaneity in his piano playing. Tradition and innovation, faithfulness and freedom, authenticity, and open-mindedness merge in his reading of the great piano literature. Buchbinder is an honorary member of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien, the Wiener Konzerthausgesellschaft, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. He is the first soloist to be awarded the Golden Badge of Honor by the Staatskapelle Dresden.

His interpretations of the works of Ludwig van Beethoven are regarded as setting standards. Buchbinder was the first pianist to play all of Beethoven’s piano sonatas within one festival summer at the 2014 Salzburg Festival. The Salzburg cycle was recorded live for DVD and CD. The sensational cycle of Beethoven’s five piano concertos came about during the 2019/20 concert season at the Vienna Musikverein. In celebration of its 150th anniversary, the Vienna Musikverein, for the first time in its history, gave a single pianist, Buchbinder, the honor of performing all piano concertos by Beethoven in a specially created series. Buchbinder’s partners in this unprecedented constellation were the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra under Andris Nelsons, the Vienna Philharmonic under Riccardo Muti and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Munich Philharmonic and the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden under the baton of Mariss Jansons, Valery Gergiev and Christian Thielemann. As a contribution to the celebrations marking the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth, Buchbinder initiated a cycle of new Diabelli Variations. Following the genesis of Beethoven’s epochal Diabelli Variations op. 120, Buchbinder succeeded in enlisting eleven leading contemporary composers of different generations.

With his new album “Soirée de Vienne”, Buchbinder relates to a Viennese evening society and brings together composers who are closely connected with Vienna – like himself. Buchbinder attaches great importance to source research. His private collection of sheet music includes 39 different editions of Beethoven’s complete piano sonatas.

David Jud

David Jud is a master clarinettist. And indeed, he also has a Master in classical clarinet and in music pedagogy, along with rich experience in loud, entertaining music (from Dixie to klezmer and Bohemian/Moravian music). So he’s ideally equipped to match his brass-playing colleagues and make himself heard. If needs be, he’ll do so by scaling the dizzying heights of his instrument, skilfully improvising on the musical text.

Guillermo Casillas

Guillermo Casillas grew up in Avila in Spain and today lives in downtown Zurich. He’s responsible for the band’s high trumpet sounds. He acquired his skills on the classical trumpet at the universities of music in Salamanca, Amsterdam and Zurich. Guillermo is the calming influence in Schäbyschigg. Technically adept and bubbling with ideas, he can solve every problem, regardless of its nature.

Fabian Jud

Fabian Jud, David’s younger brother, lives in Eschenbach. He is classically trained, has a Master in music education from the Zurich University of Music, and brings the joy of music to his pupils both young and old. Fabian Jud is a versatile trumpet player in Schäbyschigg: whether he’s playing the melody, a countermelody or a groove, he always hits the right notes.

Jérôme Müller

Jérôme Müller lives in Langnau in Canton Lucerne. Having grown up in the Swiss brass band scene, he has a lot of competition experience and so possesses the composure necessary to manage his fast, virtuoso passages. He studied the euphonium in Lucerne, but now plays the bass trumpet in Schäbyschigg.

Tobi Zwyer

Tobi Zwyer grew up in Sisikon in Canton Uri. He has a Master in earth sciences, and appropriately grounds the music of the band with its deepest notes. He also possesses the foresight of a trained wind band conductor. He is mainly responsible for the groove, but occasionally also draws attention to himself on the accordion and with his voice. But what would a tuba player be without a knowledge of the abyss? Balkan brass and folk-punk bring out the real personality of this well-earthed player on the bass line.

Sebastian Bohren is a violinist who, as both concerto soloist and chamber musician, strikes a distinctive balance in his interpretations and his choice of repertoire, which favours the Classical and early Romantic eras, the 20th century, and the present day. The Süddeutsche Zeitung has described Bohren as “one of the most serious-minded, forthright musicians of his generation” while BBC Music Magazine’s 5* review of his Avie recording of Mozart violin concertos praised his “gorgeous solo playing […] vividly alert to the music’s every shift and turn.”

Sebastian Bohren regularly works with ensembles such as the Basel Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, the Lucerne Symphony and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestras, the Deutsche Staatsphilharmonie and the Munich Chamber Orchestra, playing under the baton of Michael Sanderling, Cristian Macelaru, Marc Minkowski, Heinz Holliger, Andrew Manze, Emmanuel Tjeknavorian, James Gaffigan and Ivor Bolton.

Bohren studied in Zurich with Jens Lohmann and later with Robert Zimansky and Zakhar Bron before continuing his studies with Igor Karsko in Lucerne and with Ingold Turban at the University of Music and Theatre in Munich. Other formative influences during his artistic development were Ana Chumachenco, Hansheinz Schneeberger, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Christian Tetzlaff and Heinrich Schiff. Bohren today lives in Zurich but maintains his close links to his home canton of Aargau through the successful Stretta Concerts series that he directs, and through the Brugg Festival.

He plays a 1761 violin made in Parma by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini, the “Ex-Wanamaker-Hart”.

Sherniyaz Mussakhan, the concertmaster of the Swiss Orchestra, was born in 1993. He has performed as a soloist with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (London), the Basel Symphony Orchestra, the Astana Opera Symphony Orchestra and others. He has appeared at various festivals including the Gstaad Menuhin Festival, the Sion Festival and the Stars at the Rhein Festival, and has performed as a soloist at the Bolshoi Theatre, the Mozarteum in Salzburg, the Hofburg in Vienna, the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg and in the Great Hall of the Moscow State Conservatory. In addition to his performing activities, Mussakhan is also the founder and artistic director of various cultural projects such as the Basel Infinity Festival, the YES Chamber Orchestra and the Dialoge Festival.

Sina was born in Canton Wallis and is one of the most important dialect singers in Switzerland. Her 13 albums released since 1994 have altogether received nine gold and two platinum awards. All her studio albums have entered the Top Ten, and her current album, “EMMA”, went straight to No. 1 in the Swiss Album Charts. She has been touring Switzerland with her band for over 25 years. Sina was honoured at the Swiss Music Awards in 2019 and was the first woman on the Swiss music scene to be given the Outstanding Achievement Award.

Stephan Eicher discovered the stage in 1977 with his first band, “Noise Boys”. Two years later, he founded the techno-punk band “Grauzone” – today considered a pioneer of electronic music – together with his younger brother Martin Eicher. It was at this time that Stephan Eicher first went into the recording studio. The result was the single “Eisbär”, which sold 500,000 copies in Germany and Switzerland. In late 1983, he released his first solo album, “Chansons bleues”, which firmly established him in the music world. His big triumph came in 1986 with his album “I tell this night”, from which the single “Two people in a room” quickly became a hit. In March of that same year, Stephan Eicher filled the legendary Olympia concert hall in Paris. “Combien de temps”, the first single from his third album “Silence”, also soon became a classic of his repertoire. From this album onwards, Stephan Eicher revealed further musical facets by devoting himself increasingly to playing with other artists for the sheer joy of making music.

In 2022 in Andermatt — a famous intersection on the Gotthard railway, in the middle of the Swiss Alps and thus well-nigh predestined to be a site of cultural exchange — the Swiss Orchestra is moving into its new home as the orchestra in residence at the local Concert Hall. The Swiss Orchestra is made up of first-class instrumentalists aged between 25 and 45 who have all played in prestigious symphonic and chamber ensembles. This dynamic ensemble sees itself as an orchestra for the whole of Switzerland, building musical bridges from Basel to Graubünden to Geneva. Its aim is to overcome not just language barriers, but also prejudices against classical music.

The exciting, innovative concert programmes of the Swiss Orchestra aim to generate enthusiasm among a broad public for all kinds of orchestral music. Its aim is to rediscover forgotten, barely acknowledged Swiss composers from the Classical and Romantic periods. The Swiss Orchestra wants to make these unknown facets of Swiss history accessible once more to a broad audience by presenting programmes that place rare Swiss works alongside well-known masterpieces of
the world repertoire. With its nationwide presence and its focus on “Swiss symphonic music”, the Swiss Orchestra has a unique selling point on today’s orchestral landscape.

The Swiss Orchestra has established itself on the orchestral landscape in a very short space of time. Together with soloists such as Heinz Holliger (oboe), Vivian Chassot (accordion), Oliver Schnyder (piano), Marie-Claude Chappuis (mezzo-soprano), Alina Pogostkina, Michael Barenboim (violin) and Bernhard Russ (narrator), the Swiss Orchestra has performed at the Zurich Tonhalle, the Casino de Montbenon in Lausanne, the St. Gallen Tonhalle, the Bern Casino, the Victoria Hall in Geneva, the Stadtcasino Basel and the Andermatt Concert Hall. The orchestra’s first foreign tour took it to Madrid (Auditorio Nacional de España) and San Sebastián (Kursaal) in 2022.

A graduate of the Yale School of Music, Sylvia D’Eramo has recently completed her final season as a member of the Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. The young lyric soprano has already successfully performed at the MET, Santa Fe Opera, Palm Beach Opera, Lyric Opera Kansas City and with The Philadelphia Orchestra, amongst others. In the summer of 2022, she returned to Santa Fe Opera as a principal artist in a widely acclaimed role debut as Micaëla in Carmen.

In the upcoming 2022/23 season, Sylvia returns to the MET as Kitty/Vanessa in a world-premiere new production of Pulitzer Prize–winning composer Kevin Puts’ The Hours which will also be part of the Met’s Live in HD series. She goes back to the MET later in the season to perform the role of Musetta in the series of La Bohème performances conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. She can also be heard as Donna Elvira in Brenna Corner’s production of Don Giovanni at the North Carolina Opera. On concert scene Sylvia can be heard in the concerts with Piotr Beczała in Andermatt, Switzerland and Jonathan Tetelman with the Tivoli Symphony Orchestra in Copenhagen.

The 2021/22 season saw Sylvia D’Eramo make important debuts: originally scheduled to make her mainstage debut as Diane in the Metropolitan Opera’s cancelled production of Iphigénie en Tauride, she instead debuted there as Countess Ceprano in Rigoletto. She also made her Philadelphia Orchestra debut, performing Kitty/Vanessa in the concert version of Kevin Puts’ The Hours.

Sylvia joined the Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artist Program for her inaugural season in 2020/21. In 2021, she made her role debut as Mimì in La Bohème, conducted by James Gaffigan, with the Verbier Festival in Switzerland where she was also awarded the Thierry Mermod top singer prize.

During the 2019-2020 COVID-affected season, Ms. D’Eramo trained with the Los Angeles Opera as a member of its Young Artist Program. She also made her company and role debut with Lyric Opera Kansas City as Musetta in La Bohème. In the summer of 2020, she was to become an inaugural member of the Aspen Opera Theater and Vocal ARTS program, led by Renée Fleming and Patrick Summer, singing the role of Rosasharn in Ricky Ian Gordon’s The Grapes of Wrath (cancelled due to COVID-19). She was also slated to join the Britt Festival Orchestra as the soprano soloist in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, conducted by Teddy Abrams (cancelled). For the 2018-2019 season, she joined the Benenson Young Artist Program at Palm Beach Opera, where she appeared in the Rising Stars Concert, and covered Zerlina in Don Giovanni and Adele in Die Fledermaus. In May of 2019 Ms. D’Eramo joined the Glens Falls Symphony as the soprano soloist in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, then returned to Santa Fe Opera for her second year as an Apprentice, where she covered Mimi in La bohème, and sang Barena in Jenůfa.

Previously, Sylvia joined Santa Fe Opera as an Apprentice Artist, singing Cugina in Madama Butterfly, and performed Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel and Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, both with Yale Opera. In concert, she joined the Marvin Concert Series in her home state of Texas for Verdi’s Requiem, and Yale Philharmonia for Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony under the baton of Maestro Marin Alsop.

Ms. D’Eramo can be heard on Albany Record’s 2017 recording of The Crucible by Robert Ward, singing the role of Abigail Williams. She was a winner in the Lois Alba Aria Competition and won an encouragement award from the Career Bridges Foundation.

The Swiss conductor Thierry Fischer began his career in music as a solo flautist in Hamburg and at the Zurich Opera before discovering his passion for conducting. As the Music Director of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Fischer performed each year at the BBC Promenade Concerts. He has worked as the Music Director of the Nagoya Philharmonic Orchestra and the Utah Symphony Orchestra, and as the Principal Guest Conductor of the Seoul Philharmonic. He has been the Music Director of the Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra since 2020 and of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León since 2022. He has been invited to perform with the Boston Symphony, London Philharmonic and Royal Philharmonic Orchestras and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe.

Timo Schlüssel comes from Lucerne. He studied the saxophone with Urs Leimgruber at the Lucerne Jazz School and acting at the Jacques Lecoq School of Theatre in Paris. In 1999, he graduated from the latter with a degree in directing and acting. He began his career as an actor, mime artist and puppeteer with Circus Monti and at the Zurich Opera House. From 2003 to 2008, Timo Schlüssel was a member of the ensemble of the Zurich Opera House, working as stage manager, director’s assistant, actor and video artist. In 2008 he founded his own film and theatre company. In addition to working on productions for the Zurich Opera, Timo Schlüssel is also a published author and has regularly directed and acted in musical plays for children. In addition to many performances with the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra and the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, his plays have also been invited to Monaco, Bern and elsewhere.

Das Trio Sorriso flösst der Kaffeehausmusik neues Leben ein. Beschwingt, unterhaltsam, mit Charme und Witz sorgt das Trio für beste Laune in entspannter Atmosphäre. Möglich macht’s der wunderbare Mix aus bekannten Melodien, Musikperlen und Salonstücke aus verschiedenen Genres und Epochen. Das luftig-leichte Repertoire reicht von «La Paloma» und dem «Kriminaltango» bis zu «Wonderful World» oder «Oh donna clara». Untermalt werden die Ohrwürmer mit amüsanten Anekdoten aus der Welt des Kaffees.

Das Trio Sorriso besteht aus ausgezeichneten Musikerinnen und Musikern mit internationaler Erfahrung. Ihr süffiges Programm eignet sich ideal für kleine oder grössere Auftritte auf Konzertbühnen in Hotels oder Cafés. Ob öffentlich oder auf Ihrer privaten Feier, was bei diesem geballten musikalischen Können herauskommt, ist alles andere als kalter Kaffee. triosorriso.ch

Trio Sorriso
Daniela Roos, Violoncello
Lukas Roos, Klarinette/Bassklarinette
Patricia Ulrich, Klavier

Ute Lemper’s career is vast and varied. She has made her mark on the stage, in films, in concert and as a unique recording artist on more than 30 CDs over 40 years of career. She has been universally praised for her interpretations of Berlin Cabaret Songs, the works of Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht and the Chansons of Marlene Dietrich, Edith Piaf, Jacques Brel, Léo Ferré, Jacques Prevert, Nino Rota, Astor Piazzolla many others and also her own compositions, as well as her portrayals in musicals and plays on Broadway, in Paris, Berlin and in London’s West End. At the moment Ute Lemper mainly dedicates her concert tours to the theatrical show Rendezvous with Marlene which is her homage to Marlene Dietrich and tells her true story in word and music.

Viviane Chassot was born in Zurich and lives today as a freelance musician in Basel. She received her first accordion lessons from Ernst Kaelin at the age of 12, and he encouraged her early on to perform classical polyphonic works on the single-tone accordion (MIII). She also received important encouragement from Gérard Fahr during this early phase of her music education. Chassot completed her studies with Teodoro Anzellotti at the Bern University of the Arts in 2006 with a Master in Performance and Pedagogy. From 2009 to 2013 she lived in Leipzig as a freelance musician. During this time, she received significant support from Eberhard Feltz (Hanns Eisler University of Music, Berlin) and attended numerous master classes with Ferenc Rados, András Schiff, Alfred Brendel and others. In addition to her busy concert schedule, Chassot also gives international master classes. She teaches the accordion at the Winterthur Conservatory and at the Hohner Conservatory in Trossingen. She is a member of the long-established Rotary Club of Basel.

Chassot is continually setting new standards with her interpretations on the accordion. She gives solo and chamber music performances throughout the world, in concert halls such as the Berlin Philharmonic, the Gewandhaus Leipzig, the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Konzerthaus in Vienna, the Wigmore Hall and the Zurich Tonhalle. She works with conductors such as Simon Rattle, Riccardo Chailly, David Zinman and Heinz Holliger and makes guest appearances at international festivals. In August 2014 she was Artist in Residence at the Murten Classics Festival. A versatile musician, she crosses stylistic boundaries and combines the genres of classical music, jazz, new music and improvisation. In recent years, Chassot has performed many world premieres and was the winner of a Kranichstein Music Prize. She was also honoured with the Swiss Ambassador’s Award in London in 2015. Chassot is an artistic personality with international charisma and a pioneer in her field, and received the Swiss Music Prize in 2021.

The solo vocal ensemble Voces Suaves from Basel gives historically informed performances of the music of the Renaissance and Baroque. Its warm, full-bodied sound and nuanced musical rhetoric make this ensemble’s interpretations unique and give their performances an emotional immediacy.

Voces Suaves was founded by Tobias Wicky in 2012 and comprises a core of eight professional singers, most of whom have a connection to the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. Since 2016, the ensemble has worked without a permanent music director, developing their programmes on a collective basis. In this way, each individual member is required to exercise their creative drive, and all bear equal artistic responsibility. The line-up of the ensemble varies from programme to programme. When necessary, instrumentalists are also engaged. Voces Suaves has been invited to leading festivals across Europe, including the Festival d’Ambronay, the Ravenna Festival, the Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht, the Oslo International Church Music Festival, the Misteria Paschalia Festival in Krakow and the Innsbruck Festival of Early Music. They have also been invited to sing at the Berlin State Opera. From 2014 to 2016, the ensemble was part of “eeemerging”, the European funding programme for emerging ensembles. They enjoy collaborations with renowned ensembles such as the Ensemble Concerto Scirocco, the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, the Concerto Romano, Capriccio Stravaganza and the Capricornus Consort Basel. These make it possible for them to perform works needing larger forces. Voces Suaves also has a long-standing collaboration with the organists Michelle Vannelli, Jörg-Andreas Bötticher and Johannes Strobl.

Voces Suaves has released various recordings since 2015 on the labels Claves, Ambronay éditions, Arcana (Outhere Music) and Deutsche Harmonia Mundi. They have also been awarded various international prizes including the Diapason d’Or, the Diapason Découverte and the Choc de Classica.