Fritz Gerber Awards 2018 presented
Saxophonist Sara Zazo Romero, violinist Alexandre Guy and percussionist Thomas Soldati will receive the Fritz Gerber Foundation Award. This prize supports young, highly talented musicians in the field of contemporary classical music.
The three will each receive prize money of CHF 10,000 and a scholarship in the form of participation in the Lucerne Festival Academy worth a further CHF 10,000. The Lucerne Festival Academy Fund of the Friends of Lucerne Festival Foundation will also receive an extraordinary donation of CHF 500,000 from Renate and Fritz Gerber in 2018.
Born in Madrid in 1989, saxophonist Sara Zazo Romero completed her Master's degree in Pédagogie Instrumentale at the Haute École de Musique de Lausanne in 2017, having previously completed her Master's degree in Interprétation musicale there.
French violinist Alexandre Guy was born in La Rochelle in 1995. He completed a Master of Arts in Music Performance at the Haute École de Musique de Genève. With the Meteorôs Quintet, founded in 2016, he won first prize at the Norwegian Academy of Music's chamber music competition in Oslo in 2017 and 2018.
Swiss percussionist Thomas Soldati was born in Vercorin in 1996. He is currently studying at the Haute École de Musique de Genève and has taken part in masterclasses with composer and marimba player Keiko Abe and percussionist Peter Sadlo, among others.
The "Fritz Gerber Award" was announced for the fourth time via the Lucerne Festival Academy. In addition to the musicians' applications to the open call, recommendations from universities and well-known artists were also accepted. This year's jury once again consisted of Michael Haefliger, Director of the Lucerne Festival, composer and conductor Heinz Holliger and lecturers from the Academy's Teaching Faculty. Young artists up to the age of 28 who have Swiss citizenship or have lived in Switzerland for at least five years are eligible to take part in the award.
