Application - Lucerne Festival

Application for the Fritz Gerber Award 2023

Dates
11 August - 3 September 2023 Lucerne Festival Academy
9 September 2023 Award Ceremony

The Fritz Gerber Award, which was given out for the first time in 2015 by the Fritz Gerber Foundation, has been established to support three young Swiss musicians each year in the area of contemporary classical music. This sponsorship, totaling CHF 60,000, for each winner consists both of a prize award of CHF 10,000 and a scholarship in the form of participation in the Lucerne Festival Academy (valued at CHF 10,000).

Application
All applicants must possess Swiss citizenship or have been living in Switzerland for a minimum of three years; they must not yet have turned 29 at the time of the cut-off on August 1st, 2023. You can yourself apply for the Fritz Gerber Award, while recommendations from music schools and well-known musicians are also accepted.

Documents to be submitted online
• Photo (headshot)
• Curriculum Vitae in English (maximum of two pages)
• List of contemporary works already performed
• Cover letter/Motivation Letter
• One or two Letter of Recommendation
• Video recording of the required audition repertoire and excerpts

Audition
The selection committee will decide on active participation upon receipt of the registration forms and recordings. The results of the selections will be announced by mid of March 2023. There is no right of legal appeal. No correspondence regarding the decisions will be conducted. Applicants must include recordings of themselves playing the required audition repertoire; the recording must be uploaded online. Please note that the recording must not be edited in any way.

The selection committee consists of Michael Haefliger (director Lucerne Festival) and Heinz Holliger (composer and conductor).
The decisions of the selection committee, which are final and not subject to appeal, will be conveyed in writing, with no explanation.

Program
You can find the program of Lucerne Festival Academy 2023 here.

Application deadline
Sunday, 19 February 2023 (23:59 Swiss Time; CET)

Fritz Gerber Foundation
The Fritz Gerber Foundation has been active since 1999. The Foundation supports talented young people who have permanent residency in Switzerland. It promotes the areas of education (including advanced college training), crafts, culture, and athletics. This support is provided in the form of financial contributions to education, advanced training, and continuing education and is intended to make a difference where public funds are not available to achieve the Foundation’s goals. Since 1999 the Fritz Gerber Foundation has supported some 2,300 talented young people with a total of CHF 27 million.

Contact
academy@lucernefestival.ch