4 Musiker*innen - 4 Sprachen

Line:
Astrid Alexandre (rumantsch) voc, Maud Paquis (français) voc, Lia Maria Neff aka Follia (German) voc/db, Matt Bertini (italiano) voc/gtr/dr

Hand on heart: How many singer-songwriters from Italian-speaking or French-speaking Switzerland do you know? And if you were to ask for Swiss Germans or Romansh artists in Lausanne, how many names would be listed? We dare to say - few! Because even if Switzerland defends its quadrilingualism and proudly presents it to the outside world; basically, there is little exchange between the music scenes of the different language regions. To counteract this reality, JazzChur is organising the "4x4" concert for the seventh time.

The process is always the same: the invited musicians send each other music and lyrics in advance. Then everyone immerses themselves in the world of the others and thinks about an accompaniment here and there, a second voice, a rhythmic accompaniment to the song, etc. On the day before the concert, they meet for the first time and get to know each other. Then you soon unpack your instruments and let the magic of the music work. Because where there could be language hurdles, music is the best common language.

Each artist will present four of their own songs on this evening. Some pieces are performed as soloists, but surprising musical experiments are also possible – and expressly desired: Matteo Bertini may sing in French, Lia Maria Neff (alias Follia) interprets a German song together with Maud Paquis, Astrid Alexandre suddenly sings in Italian.

For the 2025 edition, JazzChur has invited the organisation Pro Grigioni Italiano to select the Italian-language contribution.