I wish to thank these neighbours, as well as others including partners and friends for their steadfast support of music. Thus was born the idea of the Secret Garden Party, which I hold annually, together with my friend, Oli Kehrli. Since 2017, in an effort to connect people and create community, more than 45 musicians and artists have performed for 300+ invitees in the garden of the place I used to live. Yes, past tense. THAT’S how amazing my neighbours are.
Follow these links to view images and videos of The Secret Garden Party V on Facebook and Instagram.
Upcoming Broadcasts
Vera Kooper, Gwendolyn Masin by Maximilian Lederer
27 September: NPO Radio 4 broadcast of concert in Amsterdam (with works by Vitali, Brahms, Franck, Ravel)
20 November: Broadcast of GAIA Music Festival 2022 on SRF 2 Kultur "Im Konzertsaal" (with works by Mozart, Smetana)
Darryl Bachmann, Gwendolyn Masin, Jiska Lambrecht, Tommaso Verlinghieri, Mathis Rochat
Berne baby, Berne (blog article, 2-minute read)
Gwendolyn Masin, Simon Bucher, by Reto Andreoli
At this time of year, in 1996, I arrived to Berne. Perhaps the constellations bore similarity to their present alignment. I had a violin case on my back, a small suitcase in one hand, and a certain sense of excitement intermingled with apprehension as I stepped off the train that had brought me from Zurich airport.
Walking out onto the main station square, I heard a lilting, song-like language around me. Bärndütsch. It would take me a quite some time to understand the language, and the culture that came along with it.
In the high German I had learned at school, I turned to a stranger and asked for directions to Berne’s “Konsi” - I was to meet my teacher Igor Ozim there for the start of semester. My first semester as a third-level student, my first time away from home, alone, for more than just some days.
I would study for more than four years with Igor, both at Konsi and at masterclasses.
We listened to stories about Igor’s teacher Max Rostal, and Rostal’s teacher Carl Flesch. Rostal had taught in Bern for two decades; and Ozim would follow suit.
The class came together once every two weeks for a group class to play for one another – scales, etudes, caprices, solo sonatas, whatever we had ready. Each piece was listened to with care and attention. A certain sense of camaraderie existed amongst us. I considered my classmates friends, a bunch of international, fun, vibrant people: Gabriel Adorjan, now concert master at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin. Ulrich Poschner, now first violin in Lucerne and concert master of the Argovia Philharmonic. Patricia Kopatchinskaja, treading the boards all over the world. Thomas Timm, principle second violin of the Berlin Philharmonic. Bettina Sartorius, second violin of the Berlin Philharmonic.