The Verbier Festival, founded by Swedish expatriate Martin T:son Engstroem in 1994, takes place each summer in the Alpine village of Verbier in Switzerland’s Canton of Valais. It is a classical music festival that encourages encounters and sharing between great musicians and young aspiring artists from around the world. The festival is committed to excellence in music education through its highly-respected artist training programmes.
The 25th edition of the Verbier Festival will take place from 19 July to 5 August, 2018, with the support of the Neva Foundation, Nespresso and Bank Julius Baer. The 18 days will feature more than 59 concerts, 88 artists from around the world, as well as more than 270 young musicians, introduced by the festival’s founder and Director Martin Engstroem at a press event at the Embassy of Switzerland in Beijing on Tuesday. To mark the anniversary, Mr. Engstroem has prepared a sparkling programme that brings together great names in music who represent both the festival’s glorious past and its future:
Martha Argerich, Sergei Babayan, Kristóf Baráti, Yuri Bashmet, Lisa Batiashvili, Renaud and Gautier Capuçon, Amanda Forsyth, Vilde Frang, Martin Fröst, Valery Gergiev, Ilya Gringolts, Andrei Ioniţă, Janine Jansen, Leonidas Kavakos, Evgeny Kissin, Daniel Lozakovich, Mischa Maisky, Denis Matsuev, Mikhaïl Pletnev, Thomas Quasthoff, Julien Quentin, Vadim Repin, András Schiff, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Gábor Takács-Nagy, Blythe Teh Engstroem, Daniil Trifonov, Maxim Vengerov and Yuja Wang.
The Verbier Festival is also delighted to announce the nomination of Valery Gergiev as Music Director of the Verbier Festival Orchestra — a dream birthday gift for the Festival.
Recognized worldwide for excellence in artist training and development through its Academy, Verbier Festival Orchestra and Verbier Festival Junior Orchestra programmes, the festival aims to engage and educate the wider public by stimulating curiosity for arts and culture, with a focus on music. More than 200 free and low-cost events are on offer.
Located in south-western Switzerland in the Canton of Valais, the Alpine village of Verbier is the most cosmopolitan holiday resort in Valais. Situated on a sunny plateau, it offers a unique panoramic view of the Mont-Blanc and the Combins massif. Verbier is also the gateway to the four Valley ski areas and a true paradise for winter sports and freeride in particular. In summer, the village has countless activities in store for families, senior citizens and young people alike, including mountain biking, hiking, paragliding, helisking, sledding and golf.
A strong partner for the organization of the Beijing Winter Olympics 2022, Verbier has teamed up with Zhangjiakou’s Chongli to forge a city sistership in 2017, to further cooperation in the area of winter sports, tourism and culture.
Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra China Tour (remaining concerts as of 27 March)
29 March
Concert in Beijing - Beijing Concert Hall
31 March
Concert in Xi’an, Shaanxi Xi’an Concert Hall
1 April
Concert in Nanjing, Jiangsu Jiangsu Performing Arts Centre
Discover these ‘must-attend’ highlights of the 25th edition of the Verbier Festival
Thursday 19 July / Opening concert
7pm Salle des Combins
Shchedrin, Saint-Saëns, Mendelssohn, Bernstein, Rimsky-Korsakov
Verbier Festival Orchestra
Valery Gergiev conductor
Daniel Lozakovich violin
George Li piano
Pretty Yende soprano
Wednesday 26 July / 25th Anniversary gala concert
6pm Salle des Combins
Martha Argerich, Sergei Babayan, Kristóf Baráti, Yuri Bashmet, Lisa Batiashvili, Gautier Capuçon, Renaud Capuçon, Gérard Caussé, Alexandra Conunova, Amanda Forsyth, Vilde Frang, Martin Fröst, Valery Gergiev, Ilya Gringolts, Nobuko Imai, Andrei Ioniţă, Janine Jansen, Leonidas Kavakos, Evgeny Kissin, Daniel Lozakovich, Mischa Maisky, Denis Matsuev, Mikhaïl Pletnev, Thomas Quasthoff, Julien Quentin, Vadim Repin, RIAS Kammerchor, András Schiff, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Gábor Takács-Nagy, Blythe Teh Engstroem, Daniil Trifonov, Kirill Troussov, Maxim Vengerov, Yuja Wang, Tabea Zimmermann, Pinchas Zukerman and the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra
Thursday 26 July / Opera
6pm Salle des Combins
ADRIANA LECOUVREUR Francesco Ciléa
Verbier Festival Orchestra
Valery Gergiev conductor
Tatiana Serjan Adriana Lecouvreur
Marcelo Puente Maurizio
Ekaterina Semenchuk La Principessa di Bouillon
Željko Lučić Michonnet
Milan Siljanov Il Principe di Bouillon
Chorus of the Mariinsky Theatre
