Les Rencontres Musicales de Champéry opens with two septets: Ludwig van Beethoven's famous Septet in E flat major and the lesser-known one by Adolphe Blanc. Swiss musicians and Fanfare de Champéry open the event.
Musicians:
> Andrey Baranov, violin
> Darryl Bachmann, viola
> Chiara Samatanga, cello
> Sylvia Minkova, double bass
> Damien Bachmann, clarinet
> Donatien Bachmann, bassoon
> Christophe Sturzenegger, horn
<Program:
> Adolphe Blanc – Septet in E major, Op. 40
> Ludwig van Beethoven – Septet in E flat major, Op. 20
“Ludwig!”
Rencontres Musicales de Champéry opens under the banner of chamber music and friendship. Focusing on two septets, this concert contrasts an essential work from the repertoire with an unjustly overlooked page, revealing all the richness and vitality of this emblematic group. Ludwig van Beethoven’s famous Septet in E-flat major, a masterpiece of balance and inventiveness, dialogues with Adolphe Blanc’s Septet, a composer now too rarely played. Two works in mirror image, carried by the same spirit of conviviality and musical pleasure, where instruments intertwine with natural elegance. Gathered for the occasion, leading Swiss musicians bring this luminous program to life, celebrating chamber music at its most generous and human. As a prelude to the evening, the Fanfare de Champéry, a jewel of local culture, will salute the opening of this new edition.
Andrey Baranov
Andrey Baranov is one of the most accomplished violinists of his generation, renowned for his artistic expressiveness, technical mastery and captivating stage presence. He enjoys an international career as a soloist and chamber musician, performing regularly on major stages and at prestigious festivals throughout Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia.Baranov came to international prominence after winning the Queen Elisabeth International Violin Competition in 2012, as well as the Benjamin Britten and Henri Marteau International Competitions. He has also won more than twenty other prestigious international competitions, including Indianapolis, Sendai, Seoul, Qingdao, Pretoria and Moscow. Since his orchestral debut in 2005 with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra under Vasily Petrenko, Baranov has performed with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, the Orchestre philharmonique du Luxembourg, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Orchestre philharmonique de Bruxelles, Orchestre national de Belgique, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra London, Camerata Salzburg, Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, MusicAeterna Orchestra and Sendai Orchestra, among many others.As founding concertmaster of the David Oistrakh String Quartet, established in 2012, Baranov has become an important figure in the field of chamber music. His chamber music partners include such renowned artists as Martha Argerich, Julian Rachlin, Boris Andrianov, Pierre Amoyal, Eliso Virsaladze, Alexander Buzlov, Daniel Austrich, Andrey Gugnin, Liana Isakadze and Kirill Gerstein.
Her album The Golden Violin, published by MUSO and devoted to the Romantic violin repertoire, received the Diapason d’Or in 2018. In addition to his solo career, Baranov is a passionate pedagogue. At just 23, he was appointed assistant to Pierre Amoyal at the Haute école de musique de Lausanne. He then spent several years teaching violin at the Folkwang Universität der Künste in Germany and the Academia del Ridotto in Italy. He now devotes himself entirely to the stage, while continuing to give masterclasses throughout the world. Baranov was born in Saint Petersburg in 1986, and began playing the violin at the age of five. He studied at the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory in St. Petersburg and then at the Haute école de musique de Lausanne, under Lev Ivaschenko, Vladimir Ovcharek and Pierre Amoyal.
Darryl Bachmann
Born in Geneva in 1997 into a family of musicians, Darryl Bachmann began playing the viola at an early age. He studied at the Haute Ecole de Musique de Lausanne with Alexander Zemtsov and at the Haute Ecole de Musique de Zürich in Lawrence Power’s prestigious class. He has also honed his skills with renowned teachers such as Tabea Zimmermann, Nobuko Imai and Garth Knox.
Passionate about chamber music, he regularly performs with internationally renowned artists such as Christian Chamorel, Renaud Capuçon, Alexey Igudesman, Andrey Baranov, Tedi Papavrami, Nadège Rochat and the David Oitrakh Quartet. He has performed in recital and as a soloist in major venues such as the Tonhalle Zürich and Victoria Hall Geneva, as well as at major festivals such as Le Festival international de quatuors à cordes du Lubéron, Le Festival international de piano de la Roque d’Anthéron and La Schubertiades d’Espace2.He is the recipient of several international prizes, notably from the Ernst und Ruth Burkhalter Foundation, and regularly appears as soloist with prestigious ensembles such as Ensemble Extravaganza and Orchestre Colonne, with whom he recorded Mozart’s Symphonie concertante.He is artistic director of the Festival Les Schubertiades de Thônex and Les concerts de la Thièle, and plays a viola made by German luthiers Robert König and Michael Betcher.
“From the very beginning, Darryl Bachmann has given the lie to the clichés that the viola is always attributed a certain ‘comfort’. He has an artistic personality that will certainly be heard of again in the future. His gripping, emotionally charged playing is imbued with a rigorous, uncompromising gravitas.” (Die Rheinpfalz Zeitung)
Chiara Samatanga
Chiara Samatanga was born into a musical family in Zurich, Switzerland, and studied with Thomas Grossenbacher, Jens Peter Maintz and Steven Isserlis. She won first prize at the Lutoslawski International Cello Competition (Warsaw) and the Pierre Fournier Prize (London), and has appeared as soloist with orchestras such as the Tonhalle Orchestra Zürich, the Beethoven-Orchester Bonn, the Philharmonia Orchestra (London), the Kammerphilharmonie Potsdam and the Frankfurter Opern- und Museumsorchester.She is a regular guest at internationally renowned festivals such as the Menuhin Festival Gstaad, the Festival Musikdorf Ernen and the International Musicians Seminar Prussia Cove (UK). Chiara’s first CD as soloist with the Münchner Kammerorchester was released by Sony in 2016, and her second CD with solo works by Ernest Bloch was released in 2017. Since 2018, she has also been a member of the internationally renowned quartet Carmina Quartet, whose latest CD was released in 2024. Chiara heads a cello class at Berne University of the Arts, where she also teaches chamber music.
Sylvia Minkova
Sylvia Minkova-Warot was born in Sofia, Bulgaria. Between 1996 and 2005, she studied at the Sofia National School of Music with Boriana Simitchieva. In 2005, she was awarded 1st Prize in the International German and Austrian Music Competition. Sylvia has performed with Opernhaus Zürich, CameratAmoyal, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, Orchestre de Chambre de Genève, Orchestre de Chambre de Fribourg, Festival Strings Lucerne, Gstaad Festival Orchestra, Sinfonietta de Lausanne, Camerata Menuhin, Ensemble Symphonique de Neuchâtel, Aalborg Synfonie- orkester (Denmark) and Orchestre de l’Opéra d’Avenches. From 2005 to 2013, she studied with Michel Veillon at the Haute École de Musique in Lausanne. She obtained her Diplôme d’Enseignement, Master d’Interprétation, 2nd Master d’Orchestre and Diplôme d’Advanced Studies with honors. Sylvia currently teaches at the Conservatoire de Vevey-Montreux et Riviera.
Damien Bachmann
Born in Geneva into a family of musicians, Damien Bachmann is one of the most celebrated clarinettists of his generation. Winner of more than twenty national and international competitions, he has performed on the greatest stages of Europe and Asia. His performances and playing are regularly praised by the press, who describe him as “a musician who has achieved a prodigious grace, ease and freedom” (24H, 2017) and as a clarinetist “phenomenal in terms of expressiveness and virtuosity” (Cronica Muzicala, 2020) with “spellbinding playing” (Pizzicato 2023). A sought-after chamber musician, Damien Bachmann shares the stage with such emblematic artists as violinists Janine Jansen and Gilles Apap, pianists Louis Schwizgebel and Béatrice Berrut, and the Quatuor Ébène. He has also collaborated with the likes of actress Julie Depardieu, Vincent Veillon and conductor Charles Dutoit. An accomplished soloist, he has performed on some of the world’s greatest stages, accompanied by such renowned orchestras as the Sinfonieorchester Basel, the Orchestre de Chambre de Genève, the Zürcher Kammerorchester, the Sinfonia Valais and the Ensemble Symphonique de Neuchâtel. He also performs at major festivals such as the Paléo Festival, Crans-Montana Classics and the Neuschwanstein Schloss Festival.
Professor at the Musik-Akademie Basel, he passes on his passion through masterclasses in Europe and China, and is regularly called upon as a jury member for international competitions. In 2010, he helped found the Puplinge Classique Festival, which he directed for 12 years. In 2021, together with his two brothers, he founded the Schubertiades de Thônex in Geneva, which has already established itself as a not-to-be-missed event for music lovers. Solo clarinettist with CHAARTS Chamber Artists, Damien Bachmann is an official Buffet Crampon artist, playing Tosca and Prestige models.
Donatien Bachmann
Born in Geneva in 1998, bassoonist and conductor Donatien Bachmann is establishing himself as a promising figure on the Swiss bassoon scene. He began bassoon with Antoinette Baehler at the Conservatoire Populaire de Musique Danse et Théâtre de Genève, then continued his training at the age of 16 with Afonso Venturieri at the Haute École de Musique de Genève, where he obtained a Bachelor’s degree in 2018. He then continued his studies with Sergio Azzolini at the Hochschule für Musik Basel, with whom he obtained a Master of Arts in Music Performance (2020).
A very active soloist, he regularly performs concertos by Mozart, Hummel, Rossini, Vivaldi, Vanhal, J.C. Bach and Daniel Schnyder with ensembles such as the Kammerorchester Basel, the Neues Orchester Basel, the Orchestre de Chambre de Genève and the Harvestehuder Sinfonieorchester Hamburg. A passionate chamber musician, he has performed alongside musicians such as Janine Jansen, Timothy Ridout, Béatrice Berrut, Matthew Hunt and David Castro-Balbi. He is a member of the CHAARTS ensemble and performs regularly at numerous festivals in Switzerland and abroad. As an orchestral musician, he works regularly with the Basel Sinfonietta, City Lights Symphony Orchestra and Sinfonia Valais, and under the baton of such renowned conductors as Daniel Harding, Charles Dutoit, James Gaffigan and Alondra de la Parra.
His outstanding performances have earned him numerous distinctions: 3ᵉ prize at the Giaocchino Rossini International Bassoon Competition (Pesaro, 2021), 2ᵉ prize at the Riddes National Music Performance Competition (2018), two awards at the Migros-Kulturprozent Competition (2019 and 2020) as well as at the Orpheus Competition (2019). He is also a five-time winner of the Swiss Youth Music Competition, which opened the door to support from prestigious foundations (Burkhalter, Friedl-Wald, Kiefer-Hablitzel) in his teens. Parallel to his career as a bassoonist, Donatien Bachmann developed a growing activity as a conductor. After initial training in wind orchestra conducting with Beat Hofstetter and Felix Hauswirth in Basel (2018-2020), in 2024 he began a Master of Arts in Conducting at the Hochschule für Musik Luzern in the class of Clemens Heil, while pursuing a Minor in Blasorchester conducting with Hervé Grelat and Michael Bach. Today, he is permanent conductor of the Brassband Harmonie Wolfwil (Solothurn) and the Stadtmusik Büren an der Aare (Bern), and is regularly invited to lead orchestral projects. A curious and creative musician, he describes music as an art that is at once solitary, shared, infinite and deeply curious – thus echoing the words of Albert Schweitzer: “There are two ways to forget life’s worries: music and cats.”
Christophe Sturzenegger
Born into a family of musicians, Christophe STURZENEGGER is a horn player, pianist and composer. At the age of 22, after winning first prizes for horn and piano, he became principal horn with the Swiss Youth Orchestra, and was the first Swiss hornist to be invited, through a competition, to join the Gustave Mahler Jugend Orchester. He subsequently joined the Zurich Opera Academy, the St. Gallen Symphony Orchestra and the Basel Sinfonieorchester. During his years with the orchestra, he had the opportunity to work alongside some of the greatest conductors, including Abbado, Marriner, Levine, Boulez and Gatti. Since 2004, he has pursued a career as a freelance musician and chamber musician with several ensembles, including Duo sforzando, Ensemble Variante and the Geneva Brass, and has performed at festivals in Europe, Japan, Colombia, Canada, South Africa, Mexico and China. As a pianist, he often performs chamber music or recitals in unusual programs (the piano works of Richard Strauss, for example). A semi-finalist in the Trévoux international competition, he has won numerous other prizes and competitions: CNEM, Göhner-Migros, Friedl Wald, Kiefer Hablitzel, Jeunesses Musicales, Dumont and Neumann.
Professor at the Conservatoire Supérieur de Musique de Genève (HEM), he has released several discs (Gallo, Media Sound Art, Klarthe, Sony) with both piano and horn, some of which have received excellent reviews (4 Diapasons, 4 ffff Télérama, …). His compositional activities are booming, with over 40 pieces in his catalog, including commissions from renowned ensembles and soloists (Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Sinfonietta de Lausanne, Ensemble symphonique de Neuchâtel, Orchestre régional de Normandie, Chœur la Psallette de Genève, Orchestre de Chambre de Genève,). His piece “La Reine des Neiges” (commissioned by OSR soloists) has been performed over 100 times in Switzerland and France. His piece for tuba and piano “L6 Anakrôn X” has been a set piece in several international competitions (Lieksa in Finland, and Jeju in South Korea). Finally, as a conductor, he has led several performances of L’Histoire du Soldat (notably for the play’s 100th anniversary) and the Opéra de 4 sous during a major Franco-Swiss tour, and is regularly called upon for musical theater productions, notably with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (Reine des Neiges, Colibri, etc.). In 2025, Klarthe released an album in which he conducts his own works with the OSR.
Practical information:
– More info on rencontres-musicales.ch
Opening hours
> From 5:00 pm: entertainment on the church forecourt
> From 6.00 pm: pre-concert aubade by the Fanfare Echo de la Montagne
> 6:30 pm: doors open for the church concert
> 7:00 pm: concert begins in the church.
Accessibility
Prestations
Cheeses
Prices
Category A :
>One-off price: CHF 60.00
Category B:
> Adult : CHF 40.00
> Student : CHF 15.00
> Children under 15: CHF 10.00
Festival 2026 season ticket :
> Season ticket Category A = CHF 264.00
> Subscription Category B = CHF 216.00
> Festival subscription includes 6 concerts (church, temple and symphony concert at the Palladium). The children's show (12.08) and the "Tree of Light" ice show (06-07.08) are not included.
Information
> Online ticketing closes at 5 p.m. on the same day.
> Tickets sold on site subject to availability.
> Only Twint and cash payments accepted.
> Numbered seats to be reserved on the online box office.
Payment methods
- Bank/credit card
- Online payment
- Twint