Melodies and Melodramas - Frank Martin and Arnold Schönberg in the Moonlight

After studying at the Geneva Conservatory of Music and the University of Paris VIII, Philippe Albèra taught music history and analysis while working as a music critic for several newspapers in Geneva and Paris. In 1977, he founded Contrechamps to bring 20th-century music to Geneva, where it was virtually non-existent. From the initial concerts, mixed with theater, cinema and dance, the Contrechamps ensemble and the Contrechamps review (published by L’Âge d’Homme) were born, followed by a publishing house (in 1991) after 12 thematic issues. In 1992, he founded the Archipel festival in Geneva. From 1984 to 1998, he was coordinator of a contemporary art venue, Salle Patino, while working with the Festival d’Automne à Paris and the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande under the direction of Armin Jordan. He also co-directed the magazine Dissonance for several years, contributing numerous articles. Author of several essays and lectures, he has edited many composers’ writings and published two books: Le son et le sens, a collection of essays, and Le Parti pris des sons, on the music of Stefano Gervasoni.

Born in Porto Cesareo (Italy), Giovanni Fanizza is active as a conductor in Italy and across Europe (Switzerland, Germany, France, the Czech Republic, Spain, and Bulgaria). In 2024, he was selected to participate in the Gstaad Conducting Academy with Johannes Schlaefli and Jaap van Zweden. He began studying conducting with Marc Kissoczy, Francesco Bossaglia, and Arturo Tamayo at the Conservatorio della Svizzera italiana (Lugano) and, at the same time, took courses with renowned conductors such as Nicolas Pasquet, Ekhart Wycik, Colin Metters, Donato Renzetti, Matteo Beltrami, and Christoph König.

In the summer of 2022, he served as assistant conductor at the Saluzzo Opera Academy for the productions of Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea and Mozart’s Don Giovanni, collaborating with directors Noa Naamat and Susan Stone. His passion for opera led him to closely observe the work of Carmen Santoro as a vocal coach, allowing him to deepen his knowledge of the Italian “bel canto” tradition.

That same year, he was selected to participate in the 18th Conducting Course promoted by the Divertimento Ensemble, an opportunity that enabled him to expand his knowledge of contemporary repertoire and to work with Sandro Gorli and Stefano Gervasoni.

In 2021, Giovanni founded the “Vitae Aeternae” Art Festival, an event that promotes concerts and cultural experiences in his native country. He is currently studying conducting with Laurent Gay at the Haute École de Musique in Geneva.

He has also studied composition with Nadir Vassena and Michael Zink at the Conservatorio della Svizzera italiana and accordion (Bayan) with Germano Scurti, professor and mentor, at the “Tito Schipa” Conservatory in Lecce, where he graduated with top honors. Giovanni is a prize-winner in national and international competitions, particularly with the bayan trio “Lecce Accordion Project,” with which he released the album Gogol in 2019, dedicated to the promotion of literature specifically written for the bayan.

Originally from Valais, Laurine Moulin began her musical journey in the organ class of Chantal Ebener in Martigny. She continued her musical education with Brigitte Fournier at the Sion Conservatory and Jean-Luc Waeber at the Fribourg Conservatory before being admitted to the HEM (Haute École de Musique) in Clémence Tilquin’s class, where she completed her bachelor’s degree. Her passion for creativity and contemporary music led her to the Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber in Dresden and the Mozarteum in Salzburg to pursue the International Master of New Music.

On stage, she has performed roles such as the First Witch (Dido & Aeneas), the Japanese Woman (Don Quichotte chez la Duchesse), Antigone in a Neapolitan pastiche under the direction of Florence Malgoire, Lucia (I Due Timidi), and Sister Blanche in Dialogues of the Carmelites—a performance blending opera, theater, and video creation at SPOT in Sion. In concert, she is engaged by various choirs and vocal ensembles in Valais. She has performed Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, Charpentier’s Messe de Minuit, Vivaldi’s Gloria, Mozart’s Spatzenmesse, and Handel’s Nisi Dominus. She also collaborates with Canadian guitarist and composer Sebastian Robles, whose album La Nuit et l’Azur was released in June 2024.

Laurine has sung with the all-female ensemble Polhymnia (conducted by Franck Marcon) as well as the ensemble Entresilences (conducted by Iris Thion-Poncet). She is also involved with the ensemble Fontana Cantabile (conducted by Jean Gautier-Pignonblanc). Wishing to develop her skills in this field, she obtained her choral conducting diploma in 2022.

A composer passionate about expression, she wrote the music for the show Face à toi-même for a vocal octet and brass quartet, which premiered in March 2024. La Prière du Pèlerin de la Montagne, an excerpt from this show, has been performed by numerous choirs in Valais. In August 2024, La Messe du Pèlerin was broadcast on Espace 2, recorded live at the Grand-Saint-Bernard hospice.