Les Rencontres Musicales de Champéry welcomes Sebastian Bohren, Laurent Zufferey and the Sinfonia Valais-Wallis, for a symphonic evening featuring Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn.
Musicians:
> Sebastian Bohren, violin
> Laurent Zufferey, conductor
> Sinfonia Valais-Wallis
Program:
> Fanny Mendelssohn – Overture in C major
> Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Violin Concerto No. 3
> Felix Mendelssohn – Symphony No. 4 “Italian
Brother and sister: The Mendelssohns
Les Rencontres Musicales de Champéry welcome the Sinfonia Valais-Wallis to the Palladium for a grand symphonic evening honoring Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn,brother and sister united by the same musical genius.
Under the direction of Laurent Zufferey, a conductor with a well-established career, the program opens with Fanny Mendelssohn’s Overture in C major, a brilliant and elegant piece of early Romanticism that has long remained in the shadows. Violinist Sebastian Bohren, a soloist of international renown, then performs Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 3, a luminous and virtuoso work of the great repertoire.
In the second half, Felix Mendelssohn’s “Italian” Symphony No. 4 unfurls its energy and brilliance. This dialogue between Fanny’s music and that of her brother sheds light on an essential page of European Romanticism, carried by a group with an established reputation, recently invited to the Paléo Festival. A generous and unifying symphonic evening.
Sébastien Bohren
Swiss violinist Sebastian Bohren has forged a remarkable career as a first-rate soloist, chamber musician and empathetic collaborator, acclaimed studio artist and inspired entrepreneur. With a wide-ranging repertoire spanning the classical era to the present day, he has been hailed for his “brilliant playing” (The Sunday Times) and interpretations imbued with “charm and elegance” (The Strad). Gramophone magazine described “an attention-grabbing listening experience from start to finish”, asking “Where will Sebastian Bohren’s exploratory approach to repertoire take him next?”.
Highlights of Sebastian Bohren’s 2025-2026 season include the opening of the Brugg Festival with Barber’s Violin Concerto, accompanied by the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milan under Emmanuel Tjeknavorian; Robert Schumann’s Violin Concerto on tour with the Munich Chamber Orchestra and conductor Enrico Onofri ; Beethoven’s Violin Concerto with the Deutsche Radiophilharmonie Saarbrücken-Kaiserslautern and Christoph Eschenbach; and his Milan debut with the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano under Jac van Steen, performing Henri Dutilleux’s violin concerto “L’arbre des songes”. Bohren will also make his debut in the Great Hall of the Berlin Philharmonic with the Deutsches Kammerorchester Berlin, performing his own violin adaptation of Schumann’s Cello Concerto, and give his first performances of György Ligeti’s Violin Concerto with the Bodensee Philharmonic, in collaboration with conductor Samuel Lee. Bohren continues his fruitful collaboration with Sergei Bolkhovets, this time with the Svenska Kammerorkestern, performing and recording (for AVIE Records) violin concertos by Magnus Lindberg and Samuel Barber. In addition, Bohren will return to the Vienna Konzerthaus in November 2025, with conductor Jan Willem de Vriend and the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, and will perform Leonard Bernstein’s Serenade with the Southwest German Chamber Orchestra in Pforzheim.
Previous highlights include engagements with Daniel Hope and the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, as well as tours with Heinz Holliger and the Musikkollegium Winterthur Orchestra, and Jonathan Bloxham and the London Mozart Players. He has performed concertos by Mendelssohn and Szymanowski with Andrew Manze and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Beethoven with Michael Sanderling and the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, Mendelssohn and Eötvös with Ivor Bolton and the Basel Symphony Orchestra, Bartok with Heinz Holliger and the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, Lindberg and Vasks with Thierry Fischer and the Munich Chamber Orchestra, Mozart with Marc Minkowski and the Basel Chamber Orchestra ; and Berg with the Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz and Otto Tausk. He has also collaborated with conductors Elim Chan, James Gaffigan, Mario Venzago, Cristian Macelaru and Christoph Poppen.
Sebastian Bohren’s passion for the music of the 20th and 21st centuries is reflected in several upcoming concert projects, including a tour with Heinz Holliger and the Kremerata Baltica to perform Karl Amadeus Hartmann’s Concerto funebre ; Dieter Ammann’s Violin Concerto with Thomas Zehetmair and the Orchestre d’Auvergne; a new violin concerto by Swiss composer Martin Wettstein; and the commission of a double concerto by Thomas Demenga, to be premiered alongside Daniel Hope with the Zurich Chamber Orchestra. Sebastian Bohren played for seven years (2013-2020) with the Stradivari Quartet, performing internationally in venues such as the Berlin Philharmonic, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, Beijing’s National Centre for the Performing Arts and Singapore’s Victoria Hall. In recital, he has collaborated with pianists Andreas Haefliger, Yekwon Sunwoo and Claire Huangci, clarinettist Reto Bieri, saxophonist Valentine Michaud, violinists Hansheinz Schneeberger, Isabelle van Keulen, Josef Spacek, Daniel Hope and Dmitri Sitkovetsky, violist Antoine Tamestit and cellists Thomas Demenga, Anastasia Kobekina and Christian Poltera.
Sebastian Bohren’s remarkable discography includes classical concertos, innovative arrangements and world premieres. His latest album, released by AVIE Records, combines the first recording of Latvian composer Peteris Vasks’ second violin concerto, “In Evening Light”, with an orchestration of Schubert’s virtuoso Rondeau brillant. AVIE has also published two Mozart concertos, conducted by Gabor Takacs-Nagy with the Swiss ensemble CHAARTS. For RCA Red Seal, Sebastian has recorded concertos by Beethoven, Britten, Mendelssohn and Karl Amadeus Hartmann; and for Sony Classical, Prokofiev’s Violin Sonata in an arrangement by Andrei Pushkarev for violin, string orchestra and percussion. Sebastian plays on a 1761 violin made in Parma by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini, the “Ex-Wanamaker-Hart”.
Laurent Zufferey
Born in Sion in 1993, Laurent Zufferey discovered music through the very strong presence of various harmonies and brass bands in the surrounding villages. In 2016, for his first participation in a conducting competition, he took 3rd place at the Augsburg International Conductors’ Competition, ahead of a panel of experts including Atso Almila (FIN) and Matty Cillissen (NL). This experience was a turning point in his career, as he then decided to pursue professional musical studies. That same year, he entered the Royal Northern College of Music as a percussionist, where he obtained a Master of Music in Performance with distinction in 2017. In 2018, he was awarded a place at the same institution for a Master’s course in the conducting class of Mark Heron and Clark Rundell, a Master’s degree which unfortunately ended in the meanders of the coronavirus pandemic.
In 2021, immediately after the post-covid reopening, he was invited by Paavo Järvi to the Academy of the Tonhalle Orchester Zürich, where he won the Audience Prize at the final concert. A few months later, at the last minute, Teodor Currentzis invited him to take part in the MusicAeterna residency in Lucerne. During the public masterclass, he conducts Gustav Mahler’s 5th Symphony in the KKL’s White Hall. In September 2021, he was appointed Musical and Artistic Director of Sinfonia Valais-Wallis, a professional variable-geometry orchestra based in Valais. He holds the position of Assistant Conductor with the Basel Sinfonietta (CH) and the Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège (B), before being appointed Assistant Conductor at the Orchestre national de Lyon (F), where he takes up his post for two years, starting in September 2023. In September 2022, he made his operatic debut as assistant to Pierre Bleuse for Ouverture Opéra’s “Die Zauberflöte”, where he conducted five performances. In March 2023, he took part in the Donatella Flick Conducting Competition, where he conducted the London Symphony Orchestra. In the same year, the City of Sion awarded him its Prix Culturel.
In December 2023, he was invited to replace conductor Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider a few hours before the Orchestre National de Lyon concert. The evening’s program includes a world premiere by Bechara El-Khoury and Carl Nielsen’s 4th Symphony. Résonances Lyriques, the critics’ website present that evening, commented on the performance: “When so many conductors (Rattle, Pappano, Davis…!) dry up the subject matter, Laurent Zufferey defends an exhilarating conception, whose lyricism is never exiled.” The success of this concert has earned him a reinvitation for two subscription concerts in June 2025, for a spectacular program including Respighi’s Feste Romane and Debussy’s Iberia.
Then, in March 2025, Laurent Zufferey makes his debut at the Philharmonie de Paris as conductor of the Orchestre National de Lyon, replacing Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider. This landmark moment for the young Swiss conductor enabled him to lead a vibrant program, combining Maurice Ravel’s “Alborada del gracioso” with the premiere of Ibrahim Maalouf’s Trumpet Concerto, performed by the composer himself. During his career as a conductor, Laurent has collaborated with renowned orchestras such as the Orchestre National de Lille (F), the Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège, the Orchestre National de Metz (F), Orchestre de Picardie (F), Stavanger Symphony Orchestra (N), Manchester Camerata (GB), Augsburger Philharmoniker (DE), Sinfonietta de Lausanne, Kammerphilharmonie Graubünden, Crans-Montana Classics Festival and Argovia Philharmonic (CH).
Sinfonia Valais Wallis
Sinfonia Valais-Wallis is a modular, versatile orchestra, designed to adapt to venues, works and partners: from full symphonic to chamber format, to ensembles dedicated to contemporary music or scenic and visual projects. Its flexibility is its hallmark, enabling it to match the ambitions of each program. Anchored in the heart of the Valais, the orchestra brings together between fifteen and sixty musicians, depending on the project: artists established in the canton, former HEMU students, professors from the cantonal conservatory or AMO, and musicians from the rich local cultural soil. This diversity reflects the creative energy of a region where talent intersects and takes root.
Rather than a self-programmed season, Sinfonia favors co-productions and partnerships, to fit into existing ecosystems and optimize artistic resources. Its editorial line is structured around several axes: masterpieces of the repertoire, creations and music of today, mediation and interdisciplinary projects. This approach results in formats with a clear architecture, combining rigor and imagination, and is at the service of festivals, choirs and opera houses – notably Ouverture-Opéra, the Novantiqua, Oracantat and Cantamabile choirs, and the Schola de Sion. Sinfonia’s rise to prominence is based on lasting alliances and a programming network that extends beyond regional borders. Driven by a committed artistic direction, the orchestra pursues a vision: to offer an agile and inspiring tool, capable of accompanying creations, magnifying the great pages of the repertoire and bringing together a variety of audiences – in Valais, Switzerland and beyond.
Practical information:
> More info on rencontres-musicales.ch
Opening hours
> 6:30 pm: Doors open for the concert
> 7:00 pm: Concert begins.
Accessibility
- Accessible for wheelchairs with assistance
- Accessible for self-propelled wheelchairs
- Reserved space 330 cm wide < 100 m from the site
Prestations
Cheeses
Prices
Category A :
> Adults, students: CHF 60.
> Children under 15: CHF 50.
> Category A includes a glass of wine or other beverage 30 minutes before the concert
Category B :
> Adults: CHF 40
> 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.
> Free seating in categories A and B.
Payment methods
- Bank/credit card
- Online payment
- Twint
Location
Champéry Catholic Chuch