Venues
Museum of Communication, Bern (Permanent Exhibition)
Natural History Museum of Berne (Skeleton Gallery)
PHBern (Media Library)

On the opening night, embark on a musical journey through the three Bernese institutions mentioned above, enjoying three half-hour concerts in distinctive atmosphere. The programmes are a surprise and offer an insight into this year’s GAIA Music Festival. The event concludes with a reception at the Museum of Communication, offering the opportunity to meet the artists in person.

6:30 – 6:45 p.m.
Welcome and introduction to the concert evening
Museum of Communication

7:00 – 7:30 p.m.
Concert I
at all three venues

7:45 – 8:15 p.m.
Concert II
at all three venues

8:30 – 9:00 p.m.
Concert III
at all three venues

from 9:00 – approx. 10:30 p.m.
Apéro with the artists
– a space for exchange and encounters
Museum of Communication

The programmes are a surprise and offer an insight into this year’s GAIA Music Festival.

Tickets available from September

Tickets: CHF 25.–

Students/Apprentices/KulturLegi: CHF 5.–
Children up to 12 years accompanied by an adult: CHF 0.–

It’s probably a primal instinct of human beings to constantly strive for self-improvement and better living conditions. Harder, better, faster, stronger – the title of the well-known Daft Punk hit expresses this clearly. But self-optimization is only possible for those who believe in themselves: like Ravel, Takemitsu, Chopin, or Hildegard von Bingen, who were exceptional in their thinking yet never gave up on their dreams. And it paid off!

72 minutes of music, concert with interval (20’)

Tōru Takemitsu (1930–1996)
Toward the Sea II (1981)
for Alto Flute, Harp and String Quintet

Caroline Shaw (*1982)
Valencia (2012)
for String Quintet
Swiss premiere in an arrangement by Ben Murphy

Maurice Ravel (1875–1937)
Sonate (1920–1922)
for Violin and Cello
I. Allegro
II. Très vif
III. Lent
IV. Vif, avec entrain

Hildegard von Bingen (1098–1179)
O Ecclesia
arr. by Tom Coult
for Violin and String Quintet

Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849)
Nocturne No. 20, C-sharp minor
arr. for Harp

Daft Punk (1993–2021)
Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger
Get Lucky
arr. for Harp by Alexander Boldachev

Maurice Ravel (1875–1937)
Introduction et Allegro
for Harp, Flute, Clarinet and String Quartet

Isaac Albéniz (1860–1909)
from: Suite Española Op. 47
arr. for Harp
Asturias (1888)

Musicians
Alto Flute/Flute: Kaspar Zehnder
Clarinet: Moritz Roelcke
Harp: Alexander Boldachev
Violin: Anna-Liisa Bezrodny, Jesper Gasseling, László G. Horváth, Gareth Lubbe, Gwendolyn Masin
Viola: Martin Moriarty, Ivan Vukčević
Cello: Attila Kónya, Samuel Niederhauser, Martina Schucan
Double Bass: Jordi Carrasco Hjelm

Tickets available from September

Tickets: CHF 65.–/45.–

Students/Apprentices/KulturLegi: CHF 15.–
Children up to 12 years accompanied by an adult: CHF 5.–
Preschool children accompanied by an adult: CHF 0.–

There are only a few places left.

A fairy tale carpet, woven together by Gwendolyn Masin and narrated by Stefan Kurt –
presented across two mysterious levels.

Imagination knows no bounds – be it in music or in poetry. So when stories performed by an actor
meet music, entirely new realms of imagination emerge. Hand in hand, the words of Rilke, Poe, and Wilde blend with the sounds of Prokofiev and Holbrooke, coming together to form an evocative fairyland. At times, imagination can also impress, as in the compositions of José Pablo Moncayo or Miklós Rózsa. What stories come to your mind when you hear this music?

2 x 60 minutes of music, followed by a reception

The concert consists of two halves, taking place on different floors, with each part performed twice. The audience is divided between the two levels and switches floors during an extended intermission.

Level 0

José Pablo Moncayo (1912–1958)
Amatzinac (First Version 1935)
for Flute and String Quartet

Miklós Rózsa (1907–1995)
Sonata Op. 15a
for two Violins

Alan Ridout (1934–1996)
Ferdinand the Bull
A Musical Tale
for Violin and Narrator

William Grant Still (1895–1978)
Danzas de Panama (1948)
for String Quartet

Sergei Prokofiev (1891–1953)
The Montagues and Capulets
arr. by Vadim Borisovsky
for Violin and Piano

Osvaldo Golijov (*1960)
Lullaby and Doina (2001)
for Flute, Clarinet and Strings

Musicians
Flute: Kaspar Zehnder
Clarinet: Moritz Roelcke
Violin: Anna-Liisa Bezrodny, Nicolas Dautricourt, Jesper Gasseling, László G. Horváth
Viola: Gareth Lubbe, Martin Moriarty, Ivan Vukčević
Cello: Attila Kónya, Samuel Niederhauser
Double Bass: Jordi Carrasco Hjelm
Piano: Luis Magalhães, Caspar Vos

Narrators
Stefan Kurt
Gwendolyn Masin

Level 2

George Gershwin (1898–1937)
from: Arrangements of the Gershwin-Songbook
for Violin, Double Bass and Piano
Strike up the Band
I Got Rhythm
The Man I Love
Swiss premiere

Paul Schoenfield (1947–2024)
Trio (1990)
for Clarinet, Violin and Piano
I. Freylakh
II. March
III. Nigun
IV. Kozatske

Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895–1968)
Pastorale and Rondo Op. 185
for Clarinet, Violin, Cello and Piano

Joseph Holbrooke (1878–1958)
Nocturne Fairyland Op. 57, No. 1
for Clarinet, Viola and Piano

Igor Frolov (1937–2013)
Divertimento
for two Violins and Piano

Musicians
Clarinet: Moritz Roelcke
Violin: Nicolas Dautricourt, Gareth Lubbe
Viola: Martin Moriarty
Cello: Martina Schucan
Double Bass: Jordi Carrasco Hjelm
Piano: Luis Magalhães, Caspar Vos

Narrator
Stefan Kurt

Admission on a donation basis: from CHF 200.–
Your support makes the realisation of this special concert and the GAIA Music Festival 2025 possible.

“The only constant in life is change,” said Buddha. In this concert, GAIA offers musical metamorphoses: whether it be through the restructuring of the old – like Max Richter’s recomposition of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons – or as a journey toward a new, personal compositional style, as in Arvo Pärt’s Tabula Rasa. Richard Strauss lived through the upheavals of two world wars and underwent a profound inner transformation. Time flows, but music preserves moments of its metamorphosis.

68 minutes of music, concert with interval (20’)

Max Richter (*1966)
from: Recomposed: Vivaldi – The Four Seasons
for Violin and Strings
Spring
Complemented by a work by Jorge Villoslada Durán (*1997)

Arvo Pärt (*1935)
Tabula Rasa (1977)
for Two Violins, Strings and Prepared Piano

Richard Strauss (1864–1949)
Metamorphosen (1944/45)
for String Septet

Musicians
Violin: Anna-Liisa Bezrodny, Nicolas Dautricourt, Jesper Gasseling, László G. Horváth, Gwendolyn Masin
Viola: Gareth Lubbe, Martin Moriarty, Ivan Vukčević
Cello: Attila Kónya, Samuel Niederhauser, Martina Schucan
Double Bass: Jordi Carrasco Hjelm
Prepared Piano: Caspar Vos

Tickets available from September

Tickets: CHF 65.–/45.–

Students/Apprentices/KulturLegi: CHF 15.–
Children up to 12 years accompanied by an adult: CHF 5.–
Preschool children accompanied by an adult: CHF 0.–