Verbier Festival (Association des Amis du)

BECOME A MEMBER OF THE FRIENDS

The Friends of the Verbier Festival first took shape in 1993, when a group of music-loving donors was inspired by Martin T:son Engstroem's idea for a two-week festival of classical music in the Swiss Alps of Valais.

Founder & Director Martin Engstroem calls his Verbier Festival "a waking dream"—a dream that would not have been realised without the consistent generosity and personal commitment of the Friends. Their support for the Festival as a whole, and notably for its learning programmes and major artistic projects, has been crucial to its rise to the top: the Verbier Festival is now one of the world's most renowned classical music events, blazing a trail into the 21st century.

Each donation made to The Friends of the Verbier Festival fund at King Baudoin Foundation (KBFUS) is subject to a 5% administrative fee. These fees constitute costs to KBFUS to administer donations made to the Friends Association; they total less than it would cost to operate a U.S. chapter of the Friends Association as a separate 501-C3 entity. The Association is nevertheless grateful to donors willing to top-up their donations by 5% to cover these fees.

The Verbier Festival is an international classical music event that takes place each summer in the mountain town of Verbier, Switzerland. The Festival's mission is to build a community of exchange between great masters and young artists from all over the world and to be a leader in its field by providing meaningful music education programmes.

Launched in 1994, and now globally renowned, the Festival welcomes audiences with a distinctive and exhilarating blend of events, both large-scale and intimate. Audiences from around the globe come to experience music-making at the highest level in a setting that brings them close to star performers, rising talent and a complete process of learning, rehearsal and performance.

The Festival's Academy is its respiratory system—a laboratory where future talents are discovered and nurtured. It sets the gold standard for the training of emerging soloists, chamber and orchestral musicians, singers and conductors. Each summer, audiences witness these musicians in action at more than 100 masterclasses, rehearsals and performances. The Verbier Festival Orchestra has become a rite of passage for today's exceptional young orchestral musicians and the Academy's programmes for soloists, chamber musicians and singers include an impressive list of alumni from over 60 countries who have been engaged by the world's leading concert presenters since their time in Verbier.