The Verbier Festival Goes Virtual In 2020

The Verbier Festival is a classical music festival which encourages encounters and sharing between great musicians and young aspiring artists from around the world. With its different orchestral programmes, the Festival strives towards excellence in music education. The audience is invited to live a special experience at the heart of the Swiss Alps by attending prestigious concerts, witnessing unique encounters and participating in a wide range of free activities. Every summer, the best artists meet in Switzerland, in the heart of Swiss Alps, to share their passion for music.

This Summer, due to the coronavirus situation, the Verbier Festival goes Virtual. The classical music festival has teamed up with long-time partners medici.tv — the world’s leading classical music channel — and Radio Télévision Suisse (Espace 2 and the RTSCulture platform) to present the Virtual Verbier Festival from July 16 to August 12.

Viewers and listeners can access the Festival, discover programme listings and subscribe for updates via the ‘VF at Home’ platform at verbierfestival.com. The Virtual Verbier Festival is all free to access for the period of the Festival, and select material at medici.tv will be available via free replay until 31 October.

“It’s been a very challenging few months for artists in general. That aspect of not having concerts to look forward to, not to have an income; it has been very, very tough. I see this Virtual Festival as a tribute to our artists. Many of them are regulars who come back year after year and I want to pay homage to this close friendship. The Festival wouldn’t be anything without them.” – said Verbier Festival Founder & Director, Martin T:son Engstroem.

Thanks to its partner. Medici.tv, the 2020 edition will be rich of interviews, masterclasses and even re-broadcasts of amazing rare concerts. Naturally the 18 evenings will also procure new exciting performances, recorded especially for the Virtual Verbier Festival by some of the nowadays biggest stars. The programme is set to start at 07h00PM until Midnight CET.

Thanks to this initiative, the Verbier Festival remain loyal to the support of classical music in Europe. The Verbier Festival never stopped its evolution, always trying to rejuvenate, reenergize and consolidate classical music for the pleasure of all passionate people in Switzerland and around the world. This is proof that when passion and determination are combined impossible is nothing. Here is a full interview from Mr Engstroem:

In 2018, the festival celebrated its 25th anniversary which was a tremendous milestone and they launched a very beautiful art book to tell the story. Twenty-five years ago, Martin T:son Engstroem, had an idea to establish a workshop open to the skies, a place for exchanging knowledge, passion and interests. You can read our review here.

Another good news for the Verbier Festival was the partnership renewal of its main sponsor: Bank Julius Baer. Principal Sponsor of the Verbier Festival since 2010, the Swiss bank has extended its partnership for another three years through the Festival’s 2023 edition. The bank’s sponsorship activities will continue to focus on the wide range of music programming that the Verbier Festival presents at the very highest level, and on the Verbier Festival Academy, which provides exceptional training and educational opportunities to nurture the next generation. In addition to its sponsoring commitment, Julius Baer will also support all medici.tv broadcasts as part of this year’s Virtual Verbier Festival, taking place from 16 July to 12 August 2020. Here is the programme for Medici.tv

16.07    VALERY GERGIEV
17.07    EVGENY KISSIN
18.07    LES VIOLONISTES DE VERBIER
19.07    MARTHA ARGERICH
20.07    THOMAS QUASTHOFF
21.07    JOSHUA BELL
22.07    VERBIER FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA
23.07    ANDRÁS SCHIFF & QUATUOR ÉBÈNE
24.07    DANIIL TRIFONOV
25.07    GAUTIER & RENAUD CAPUÇON
26.07    SINGERS OF VERBIER
27.07    MIKHAÏL PLETNEV
28.07    VERBIER FESTIVAL CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
29.07    LEONIDAS KAVAKOS
30.07    VERBIER GENERATION: LES DÉCOUVERTES DU FESTIVAL
31.07    PIANISTES DE VERBIER
01.08    MISCHA MAISKY
02.08    YUJA WANG

Despite all these amazing concerts that you can follow on Medici.tv there is more around the virtual festival and it is for the music aficionado to discover or rediscover more about this amazing festival and the incredible artists. From August 2nd onwards, all the concerts will be audio streamed by Espace 2.

From July 17 to August 12, Espace 2 will broadcast the ‘Best of the Verbier Festival’ on its L’Été des Festivals programme. Partner of the Verbier Festival since 1994, Espace 2 has a goldmine of Verbier Festival performances and interviews in its archives. Its broadcasts of concerts will be complemented by newly produced features and interviews Monday to Friday from 8 pm to 10:30 pm CET and Saturdays from 8 pm to midnight CET. Espace 2 programming can be accessed from around the world via the dedicated Virtual Verbier Festival page at verbierfestival.com. Swiss listeners can also hear Espace 2 on local radio stations across French-speaking Switzerland.

Do not hesitate to visit the festival official website for more information: https://www.verbierfestival.com. The Coronavirus obliged institutions and companies to adapt and to become very creative in order to keep things moving forward. The Verbier Festival is always evolving and only one thing never changes: the passion for beautiful music.

José Amorim
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