25 January 2026, 5 p.m.

 

Biel-Benken Church

 

Zefiro Torna

Bonsai Operas from 17th century Venice

 

You are cordially invited!!! savadi is playing ‘quasi’ in Basel and looks forward to seeing many friends and visitors!

 

 

ensemble savādi…

Kristīne Jaunalksne and Ulrike Hofbauer, soprano

Marie Bournisien, baroque harp

 

Zefiro torna is dedicated to duets and arias penned by 17th-century Venetian composers. With just a few artful and well-chosen verses, the poet conjures up an entire scene in the listener's mind's eye. We sense the backstory and character of the protagonists and are immediately ‘right in the middle’ of a story that all too often tells of love and its dark side. The setting of these verses to music creates poignant and moving snapshots that sometimes seem like an opera ‘en miniature’ – hence the subtitle of our programme: ‘Bonsai Operas’. Zefiro torna brings together compositions by the Kapellmeister of San Marco, Claudio Monteverdi, his pupil and successor Giovanni Rovetta, the opera impresario and unjustly forgotten Benedetto Ferrari, and the unconventional composer and singer Barbara Strozzi.

 

 

Venezia.Barbara.Privat

Full of anticipation I would like to invite you: in June we are playing twice in Bern:

"Venezia. Barbara. Private" - what might Barbara Strozzi's "salon" have looked like? A fantastic concert with my wonderful savadi colleagues Kristine Jaunalksne (soprano) and Marie Bournisien

(baroque harp) and our &cetera guests Brigitte Gasser (lirone) and Niels Pfeffer (lute). It's going to be a party!!!

You can hear us on

 

Saturday, 21 June 2025, 7.30 PM at the Große Orangerie Bern (Elfenauweg 94, Bern) and the day after on

 

Sunday 22 June 2025, 5 PM in the wonderful little church of Kleinhöchstetten (Kleinhöchstetten 121, 3113 Rubigen).

 

As the church is so small, please book in advance at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

more information: &cetera Bern

 

This autumn is the seventh time I'll have the pleasure of being part of the Hanse Ensemble's masterclasses in Lübeck. I look forward to this time in the north every year! Working with the young talents is always deeply enriching! Manfred Cordes, director of the Hanse Ensemble and the masterclasses, writes:

 

"Again, a team of internationally renowned teachers will work with young talented musicians during a four day masterclass dedicated to European music of the 16^th and 17^th centuries. The course will consist of individual lessons (...), furthermore there will be special emphasis on ensemble work."

more information

New CD release:  Lucia!

 

Music following the musical lifeline of a harpsichordist and soprano – Lucia, about whom today very little is known, and in fact we can never hope to know everything about her. Lucia Coppa Rivani (1625-1699) has only left remote traces, inscribed in ink in letters and archival documents. 

But through her ambience, and the musical preferences of her patrons, the sound of her world comes forth: the music by her teachers, who trained her as a musician, and the music by the composers whose highly expressive cantatas she performed as a virtuosa at the Medici court of Florence, and in the service of her benefactor, Marchese Filippo Niccolini.

 

Accademia degli stravaganti

 

Ulrike Hofbauer, soprano

David Bergmüller, theorbo, chitarrone & guitar

Anne Marie Dragosits, harpsichord & concept

further information and the possibility to order herefurther information and the possibility to order here

We'll give it another try: As it was actually planned for last summer, this summer I will teach three workshops - and I am really looking forward!

This summer I will teach three workshops - and I am really looking forward!

... ein neuer Anfang ... a new start ... My first teaching day was really inspiring, all the people I met so welcoming!! I hope it's going to stay like this. I want to thank you, my family, Sabine, Evelyn and Tony, all my teachers and collegues and students who have brought me here. If this were a book, I would dedicate it to you! Thank you for your support! Schola, hurray!

Venice is a dream! I love this city and need to visit it at least once a year. My next visit shall be in April - and it will include wonderful musical and culinary discoveries. Who comes along?

 

More information on this masterclass for chamber music here