Barbara Balba Weber wins Bernese Oberland project competition
The Bernese Oberland Classical Music Festival Association (KFBO) has launched a project competition for more diversity in the audience. It was won by Barbara Balba Weber, a lecturer and music educator at Bern University of the Arts.
Barbara Balba Weber's recipe for creating diversity in the audience of classical concerts over the long term has been convincing across the board, writes the association. The concept is to include a dialogue group - for example a specific professional group, a music association or a special age group - as a "guest of honour" in the program every year. The following year, it is the turn of another dialog group, while the previous one is integrated into the festival as a "permanent guest" with an individual format. In this way, the diversity of the classical music audience can be increased year after year.
On November 21, 2024, Klassikfestivals Berner Oberland will hold a workshop for its members in Thun, where the winning project by Barbara Balba Weber will be presented in detail and various implementation options will be presented. The aim is for as many festivals in the Bernese Oberland as possible to take up the idea and implement a variant adapted to their needs.
