Six Commissions

The unexpected can surprise us joyfully or frighten us cruelly. We therefore skillfully try to incorporate it into everyday life or to avoid it. Nevertheless, it sometimes hits us with full force. And nothing is more unmediated than the human being. Perhaps that is why mediation is so much in demand in art and especially in contemporary music. As much as possible should be communicated to as many as possible: Thresholds are broken down, bridges of understanding are built, new paths are sought. As important as this is for newcomers to the field, it can also take away something essential from music: its immediacy. The salutary horror of some works, their uncomfortable intimacy, their slow infinity, even their overwhelming beauty: all this is ultimately not mediated, but can only be experienced and experienced, directly. Music thus becomes a mediator to the intangible.

For the Bern Music Festival from September 7 to 11, 2022, Lilian Beidler, Gabrielle Brunner, Nicolas Buzzi, Jannik Giger, Thomas Kessler and Léo Collin will create new compositions. These six composition commissions are sponsored by the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation. The Bern Music Festival connects Swiss musicians with international players, promotes cooperation between local partners, and stands out as a laboratory for new concert concepts and musical scenery with a strong emphasis on mediation. The theme of this year’s edition of the festival is unvermittelt (sudden, abrupt). Music and science are brought into a dialogue. The composers and participating scientists are networking with the aim of closely coordinating their compositions and lectures. The topics are the supernatural, skin, mediation and war.

Further information:
musikfestivalbern.ch

Dates

September 7 –11, 2022
Various venues, Bern