The Vevey Spring Classic and Musée Jenisch Vevey are proud to announce the start of a long term exclusive artistic partnership. Each year, several classical music concerts will be organized in one of the museum’s exhibition rooms during the festival week in Spring. Under this collaboration, other musical events will also take place in the museum during the year with the purpose of creating synergy between music, painting, history and literature.

Musée Jenisch Vevey hosts the largest collection of Oskar Kokoschka’s works in the world. The painter lived in Villeneuve from 1953 until his death in 1980 at the age of 93. The famous Austrian born expressionist painter fell in love with the Swiss Riviera. He painted several works with Lake Geneva as subject. Kokoschka was also known as a writer, poet and playwright. This cosmopolitan man and vagabond, as he called himself, maintained a close connection with the Viennese musical society of the turn of the century. In this connection, to his legacy we credit his paintings of portraits of Arnold Schönberg, Egon Wellesz and Anton Webern. The painter was also a close friend of Alban Berg and was the lover of Alma Mahler from 1912 to 1914.

Being a passionate writer, Kokoschka’s play Mörder, Hoffnung der Frauen inspired Paul Hindemith to compose his one act opera with the same title. With Wilhelm Furtwängler, they had a plan to collaborate in a new production of Mozart The Magic Flute at Salzburg Festival which sadly did not materialize due to the death of the great conductor. The concerts curated by the Vevey Spring Classic at the Musée Jenisch Vevey will focus on the many elements that bring forth the richness of the history of the 20^th century and embrace the intimate relationship of the arts and culture with our region.

As the launching pad of our collaboration, we invite you to attend the event below: 

Thursday 28 November 2024, 18:30

Musée Jenisch, Vevey

J.S. Bach  Suite for solo cello no. 3 in C Major BWV 1009

Pablo Casals  El cant dels ocells (The Song of the Birds)

Daniel Müller-Schott, cello

Followed by a conversation on “Oskar Kokoschka and music” with the Co-Artistic Directors of the Vevey Spring Classic, Wilson Hermanto and Daniel Müller-Schott, moderated by Aglaja Kempf, Curator of the Oskar Kokoschka Foundation. 

Dear Friends of the Vevey Spring Classic,

The interaction and support for the outstanding young musical talents have been one of the founding values ​​of the Vevey Spring Classic since its inception. We have been working for three years now with artists who, in our opinion, will be the stars of tomorrow.

During our 2024 festival edition, moments of pure magic occurred. Among them our discovery of an extraordinary talent : the young Malaysian pianist Magdalene Ho who performed several concerts, both in recital and chamber music.

Winner of the First Prize of the Clara Haskil International Piano Competition in Vevey in 2023, Magdalene Ho was selected to integrate our festival as part of the artistical partnership with this competition. From the first rehearsal, she impressed her mentors, Simon Trpčeski and Daniel Müller-Schott, with her musical maturity and the quality of her playing.

It was a great pleasure to work and play with Magdalene Ho who brought a lot of joy to the Festival in an immense program that she managed to master with professionalism. I am sure that her musicality will further develop naturally and that she will make a substantial contribution to our musical universe.

– Simon Trpčeski

It is extraordinary that at her age, Magdalene Ho has such depth and freedom of expression which is truly rare. She is also very modest, always seeking to transmit the composer’s message and presents impeccable technique which allows her to play in a natural way. All of this is truly exceptional. I am delighted to have Magdalene with us at the start of her career.

– Daniel Müller-Schott

Speaking from a musician’s point of view and having worked with her, I sincerely feel that a talent like Magdalene Ho’s very rarely appears in our life. For me, this young pianist embodies the true spirit and uniqueness of Clara Haskil.

– Wilson Hermanto

Amazed by the talent and absolutely unique qualities of Magdalene Ho, we decided to offer her mentoring and support her future development over time, in collaboration with the SONORA music agency. We are convinced that artistic personalities like those of Magdalene Ho have their place on the most important concert stages.

The upcoming concerts of Magdalene Ho in Switzerland :

• On September 18^th with the Sinfonieorchester Biel Solothurn in Biel.
• On September 21^st in recital in Lausanne as part of the Vevey Spring Classic.
• On October 24^th with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (OSR) in Geneva.

Dear Magdalene, welcome to the Vevey Spring Classic family !