Application - Lucerne Festival

Autumn Festival

The new Autumn Festival, taking place from 19–21 November 2021, is dedicated to the theme “network”. This refers, in the broadest sense, to “our” network, our dedication to contemporary music in our society. We are looking for projects that can engage with this theme of “network”, the presentations and programming of which are simultaneously manifestations of the very same network.

This new festival is really “our” festival; it is there to demonstrate what keeps us busy, how we think and work, and how we want to share our passion with the world. The programme should form a strong statement to demonstrate the importance of contemporary music in society today.

Within the network, we want to use our collective “hive mind” in order to curate the festival this autumn. Members can send in their suggestions as the building blocks for this Think Tank, enabling a broad spectrum of content possibilities which can then be discussed together as the programme is developed further.

Call for Themes, Projects and Programmes

Timescale
Rehearsals: from Monday, 15 November 2021
Performances: Friday, 19 – Sunday, 21 November 2021

Location
The KKL is available for us to use on the Saturday and Sunday. Otherwise, any other potential venues or performance spaces within Lucerne can be taken into consideration.

Amount of projects / concerts
The total number of concerts over the course of the festival is not fixed, and will be defined in line with the development of projects involved in the festival.

Instrumentation
We are looking for projects ranging from solo performances to sinfonietta-sized ensemble programmes (maximum roughly 40 musicians). The musicians will be chosen from network members; applicants can also propose smaller-scale pieces featuring themselves as performers.

What we are looking for
•   Alongside the “network” theme, we are looking for cross-genre projects. These could involve new approaches, both in terms of type of
performance, and of duration, timing, location etc. Interdisciplinary projects are also welcome.
•   We are also very interested in projects that can connect the festival with local communities, engage with local audiences from kids to seniors, and/or can be adapted specifically for the city and region of Lucerne, helping us define the special profile of this new festival.
•   All projects need to be able to be produced and realised within a week, with rehearsals in Lucerne starting on Monday 15 November. Where feasible, projects can also arrive in Lucerne having already completed some preparation work.

Deadline, selection and future procedures
•   Project proposals need to be received by 19 April 2021.
•   The initial selection will be made by Felix Heri (Head of Lucerne Festival Academy), Mark Sattler (Dramaturgy) and Michael Haefliger (Executive and Artistic Director).
•   The project ideas will be discussed and conceptualised in public panel sessions; the programming of the festival is an explicitly community-based process. This process will last from the beginning of May until July.
•   With this first experience for us of co-curation, the freedom it allows will inevitably lead to many questions needing to be discussed. You are very welcome to send these directly to me, I will be reachable from 6 April onwards.
•   Given the experimental nature of this festival, and especially due to the unpredictable nature and global development of the COVID-19 pandemic, necessary changes may need to be enforced, but at the moment we believe that our plans can take place as detailed above.

Contact
f.heri@lucernefestival.ch