"Amazons" in Schoeck's birthplace
In future, a festival will be held every September to present works by the Brunner composer and reflect on his work. This year's edition under the motto "Amazons" will take place largely without an audience on site and will be streamed live.
Four years ago, the Othmar Schoeck Festival (OSF) prompted the people of Brunner to take a closer look at the composer, who was born in 1886 in the tourist village on Lake Lucerne. The ten-day event was also recognized far beyond the region, as Othmar Schoeck's work had made waves internationally during his lifetime. After his death in Zurich in 1957, however, it was not possible to initiate a multi-voiced and thorough examination of the life and work of one of Switzerland's most important composers.
In 2016, a board of trustees organized a wide range of events to enable new approaches to this artist, whose personality continues to give rise to controversial discussions. In the meantime, the Othmar Schoeck Festival has reorganized itself. The aim is to attract as many members and patrons as possible to support the annual festival. On a weekend around September 1st, Othmar Schoeck's birthday, this reappraisal is now continued in various events, including his birthplace, the artist's villa on the Gütsch above Lake Lucerne.
2020 largely via livestream
From September 11 to 13, 2020, the festival will open the ten-year series under the motto "Amazons". Due to the pandemic, it was not clear for a long time how the planned events could actually be realized. Instead of canceling the festival, the board decided to move forward. All events except for the walk will now take place in the Villa Schoeck without an audience on site and will be streamed live, including
- Concert and world premiere: works by Stefan Keller and Othmar Schoeck
- Performance heimatLOS: focus on female artists such as Colette, Mascha Kaléko, Else Lasker-Schüler, Clara Schumann, Alma Mahler, Pauline Viardot, Dota Kehr and Judith Weir
- Symposium Women:Voices - Roles and Personalities under the direction of Merle Fahrholz, with contributions by Barbara Beyer, Graziella Contratto, Inga Mai Groote, Astrid Kessler, Stephan Mösch, Panja Mücke, Sven Oliver Müller, Anna Ricke, Melanie Unseld and Judith Weir; in collaboration with the Musicological Institute of the University of Zurich
