Masterkonzerte Jazz & Contemporary Music

Di, 1. September

19.30 Uhr
Severin Rusch

Mæsh_extended

Mæsh as a concept has accompanied me throughout my studies and connects many artistic and ideological perspectives which are inspiring and important to me. At its core, Mæsh is about connection – between aesthetics, media, emotions, communities, backgrounds, and people. It embraces the chaos of unlikely encounters, the comfort of familiarity, and the excitement for the unknown, driven by curiosity: a continuous search for dialogue, overlap, and exchange.
 
Lucien Palak (sax), Maxence Nappez (tb), Nil Flückiger (b), Severin Rusch (dr, visuals)

21:15 Uhr

Felix Neumann

Kurtin Bangs

It’s not a haircut, it’s a band. It’s a mixture of psychedelic rock and noise, shoegaze and free jazz. Simple melodies and head-nodding grooves.

Marco Shevchenko (g), Thomas C. Tito (b), Felix Neumann (dr)

Mi, 2. September

19.30 Uhr
Simon Guyer

Premium Luchs

Premium Luchs bewegt sich zwischen feministischem Punk, Noise und Indie-Rock. Die Band experimentiert, dehnt und zerrt, bis alles fast auseinanderbricht – aber eben nicht ganz. Das Ergebnis sind rohe und einnehmende Stimmen, vibrierende Bässe, samtige Klanglandschaften, verzerrte Gitarrenriffs und ein Hang zum Absurden. Mensch kann stage-diven. Selbst während der ruhigen Passagen.
 
Michèle Fella (voc, fx), Camille Santacroce (voc, g), Robin Rindlisbacher (synth, elx), Lennart Schandl (b), Simon Guyer (dr)

21.15 Uhr

Simon Prongué

Hex! Machina.

This project is part of an exploratory approach in which drums and electronics both become a shared field for improvisation. Although conceived as a solo project, it is enriched by modulated voices whose interventions open new dimensions, creating a sonic metamorphosis in which acoustic playing remains in constant dialogue with electronic extensions. 
The music is constructed in the moment, between raw energy and abstract textures, allowing soundscapes to emerge where pulsation, silence, and matter remain in constant balance.

Simon Prongué (dr, elx), Josué Salomon (voc, elx)

Fr, 4. September

19.30 Uhr

Lennart Schandl

ottottottotto

we love music even more once it has broken apart and become overgrown, feeding back into the soil of sound
magic mushrooms growing on what is left of a pop song
like mold spreading in real time, fed by noise, drone, and accidental melodies
nothing is written, everything is wrong
oʇʇoʇʇoʇʇoʇʇo

Camille Santacroce (voc, synth, g, fx), Tia Gurtner (dr, mod synth), Lennart Schandl (b, fx)

Sa, 5. September

19.30 Uhr

Camille Santacroce

ottottottotto

A sonic playground where we bend and mix different genres and approaches. We exist somewhere between experimental noise, pop, free jazz, noise rock and electronic music. We seamlessly combine simple pop songs with harsh noise, ambient soundscapes and everything in between. Joined by guitarist Jonas Lusti for this occasion. Everything is composed, nothing is right.
ʇoʇʇoʇʇoʇʇoʇ

Camille Santacroce (voc, synth, g, fx), Tia Gurtner (dr, mod synth), Lennart Schandl (b, fx), Jonas Lusti (g, fx)

21:15 Uhr
Michèle Fella

Deluxe Lynx

«Deluxe Lynx» bewegt sich zwischen feministischem Punk, Noise und Indie-Rock. Die Band experimentiert, dehnt und zerrt, bis alles fast auseinanderbricht – aber eben nicht ganz. Das Ergebnis sind rohe und einnehmende Stimmen, vibrierende Bässe, samtige Klanglandschaften, verzerrte Gitarrenriffs und ein Hang zum Absurden. Mensch kann stage-diven. Selbst während der ruhigen Passagen.

Michèle Fella (voc, fx), Camille Santacroce (voc, g), Robin Rindlisbacher (synth, elx), Lennart Schandl (b), Simon Guyer (dr)

Fr, 4. September

21:15 Uhr
Emile Schaffner

XHE TARR + 6 

“¿Qué tal?” is Spanish for 'how are you?'. Through Emile Schaffner’s mind and propensity to play with language, it transformed into XHE TARR, at first a solo project, centering on voice and electronics. A space for mixing jazz standards, today’s pop music, and his compositions. A long answer to the mundane question we often absent-mindedly ask.
Now, it will be expanded into a seven-piece band, to bring about joy, wonder, fear, grief ... a brief glimpse into the gamut of emotions which make up human experience.

Emile Schaffner (voc, elx), Sonya Chernysh (p, synth, voc), Loïc Baillod (b), Xavier Kaeser (dr), Ernestine Mermet (voc), Lélia Rassat-Guerroudj (voc), Maëlle Contreras (voc)

Mo, 7. September

19.30 Uhr

Luca Imholz

Mollusca

«Mollusca» steht für Pop-Rock, der nach vorne geht: kraftvoll, modern und mit Hooks, die sich in die Ohren brennen. Die aufstrebende Band verbindet die Energie der grossen Rockbands der frühen 2000er-Jahre mit einem modernen, rohen Touch, der direkt unter die Haut geht.
 
Rahel Müller (voc, g), Cedric von Rauscher (keys), Luca Imholz (g), Lennart Schandl (b), Simon Guyer (dr)

21.15 Uhr

David Bayless

Unplugged in Bern – David Bayless

Original music presented in an unplugged acoustic format, featuring songs from my EP, Seismic, which I released independently last September, as well as new material I’ve written since.

“A beautiful folk sound – propelled by fingerpicked guitar and serenely poetic vocal prowess – shines on Seismic, the latest from David Bayless. The release is a consistent display in riveting songwriting from Bayless, who is originally from Northern California and now based in Zurich, Switzerland. His ability to craft emotively stirring entrancement within often subdued folk productions reminds fondly of Elliott Smith.” Mike Mineo, Obscure Sounds

David Bayless (voc, g), Gabriel Vergelin Soler (vc), Nil Flückiger (b), N.N (vln)

Di, 8. September

19.30 Uhr

Pablo Lagares
 

You want to sleep?
You can’t, you will never.
You hear all that noise coming at you?
Maybe you’ve made the wrong decisions.
Or not?
 
You want to wake up?
You can’t, you already are.
All this silence is comfortable?
Congratulations, you’ve made a good choice!
Or not?
 
This project is centered around my own compositions, rooted mainly in rock music and
enriched with electronic elements. It moves between atmosphere and impact, blending soft
passages with heavier, more aggressive sections. Organic energy meets synthetic textures,
creating a sound that shifts between tension and release. The goal is not to stay in one lane,
but to explore contrast.
 
Pablo Lagares (g, voc), Quentin Barth (g), Livio Arcuri (b), Simon Prongué (dr), Choir: N.N

Mi, 9. September

19.30 Uhr

Cole Frieman

Homonyms

“Two or more words having the same spelling or pronunciation but different meanings and origins.” 
In this series of pieces, music and text behave like homonyms. Each piece’s musical material is composed using structural information found in a text, such as letters, words, phrases, and typography. The text’s shifting narrative and phrase structure then take shape in this quartet’s human sound. 

Yuki Kataoka (cl), Nataniel Edelman (ep), Joshua LeBlanc-Demers (dr), Cole Frieman (comp, g)

21.15 Uhr

Nil Flückiger

Nil Flückiger Large Ensemble

The likelihood that there is an alternate universe where Carla Bley smoked crack is almost as high as the number of notes played. When stars explode, this is the sound they make.
Come aboard this spaceship and, through our red eyes, this universe where stellar compositions and galactic improvisations move through the dark, searching for light.
 
Whatever happens, happens.

Mirtò Kaitanidou, Damaris Brendle, Emile Schaffner (voc), Wiebke Hennig (vln), Hortense Airault (vc), Lucien Palak (sopranino, ts), Mattia Facchini (as, bcl), Mireia Pellisa Martín (bari sax), Valerian Alfare (tp, euph), Ferdinand Silberg (tb), Robin Rindlisbacher (p), Nil Flückiger (b, comp), Damien Kuntz (dr, vib), Maxence Nappez (dr)

Do, 10. September

19.30 Uhr

Lucien Palak

ENSEMBLE SKHISMA

Skhisma is a Greek word meaning a split or crack. In music it is considered practically imperceptible and is frequently cited as a symbol of the threshold of hearing, often used to link different regions of harmonic space.
In this programme's music, the theoretical designs are partnered in a subtle dance to serve a poetic form, making it inevitably original.

Lucien Palak (sax, comp), Mireia Pellisa Martín (sax), Mattia Facchini (sax), Valerian Alfar (tp, euph), Maxence Nappez (tb), Nina Tajč (euph), Gašper Gortnar (tb), Martín Andrés Sanhueza Céspedes (eg), Lennart Schandl (eb)

21.15 Uhr

João Arrobas

QUICKSAND +

You wouldn’t plant an orchid on quicksand.
But are you sure the ground you’re standing on is firm? Or does it only look firm? Maybe it is firm for others, just not for you.
Can you force an identity onto yourself? Can you inherit something by sheer will? Perhaps you find comfort in labels and words. Is your name not enough? It is natural to want to be grounded, but not everything that holds you is meant to root you.

João Arrobas (p), Damien Kuntz (dr), Gianni Narduzzi (b), Lucien Palak (ts), Mattia Facchini (as), Guests: N.N.

Fr, 11. September

19.30 Uhr

Robin Rindlisbacher

Anordnung von Zauberhaft

non-violent narrative concert about a fictional democratic state and a traveler

N.N.

21:15 Uhr
Philolaos Kougias

ecstasis // catharsis
(rituals i–iii)

What constitutes a ritual? What makes people pass rituals down from generation to generation? Is the story behind them essential?

At a time when disconnection from personal spirituality is becoming more apparent, “ecstasis // catharsis” strips ritual practices down to their core, without religious affiliation. The performance traces a progression from ecstatic revelation to cathartic afterthought, structured into three distinct rituals/compositions.

Isabel Dietrich (vln), Wiebke Hennig (vln), Camila Maina (vla), Hortense Airault (vc), Selma Aerni (vc), Carla Keller (vc), Martín Sanhueza Céspedes (eg), Philolaos Kougias (live electronics)