Women in Music

Michelle DeYoung

Fri. July 17 | 6:30 PM | Combins

A first appearance at the Verbier Festival for the American mezzo-soprano, who will perform on 17 July under the baton of Esa-Pekka Salonen. She will sing the final scene from Wagner’s Götterdämmerung, where all aesthetics meet: orchestral grandeur, operatic lyricism and the dawn of impressionism. It is repertoire she knows intimately, having made her mark in the iconic roles of Fricka, Sieglinde, and Waltraute in The Ring Cycle.

Blythe Teh Engstroem

Mon. 20.07 | Wed. 22.07 | Sun. 26.07 | Mon. 27.07 | Wed. 29.07 29.07

A familiar face at the Rencontres Inédites, Blythe Teh Engstroem is a passionate chamber musician who helped found the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra in 2006. The violinist and violist has been an integral part of the Festival for nearly 15 years — she is now Co-Artistic Director of the Festival — performing this summer with artists such as Nikolaï Lugansky, Joshua Bell, Mischa Maisky and Steven Isserlis at the Rencontres Inédites I, II, III, and VI. Catch her on 27 July for Mendelssohn’s Piano and String Sextet, with Minsoo Sohn and Kian Soltani, among others.

Janine Jansen

Sun. 26.07 | Thu. 23.07 | Mon. 27.07 27.07

Janine Jansen is one of the most distinctive and deeply moving voices in violin playing today. Born into a family of musicians, she has established herself through her playing of rare intensity and absolute sincerity. This year, she will reunite with her long-standing musical partners Martha Argerich and Mischa Maisky in a concert already sold out. So be sure to catch Janine Jansen on 19 July in Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1 conducted by James Gaffigan and on 27 July in Brahms’ famous Double Concerto, with Daniel Blendulf under the baton of Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider.

Martha Argerich

Tue. 21.07 | Thu. 23.07 23.07

A legendary pianist in every sense, Martha Argerich needs no introduction and is widely regarded as one of the greatest living interpreters, celebrated for her dazzling virtuosity. Beyond her solo career, she has left a profound mark on chamber music, regularly collaborating with partners such as Mischa Maisky, with whom she reunites this summer, alongside Janine Jansen. She will also perform with Alexandre Kantorow and Magdalena Kožená — two concerts that are already sold out. Join the waiting list now!

Paloma So

Sun. 26.07 | Thu. 30.07 30.07

Praised by The Strad for playing that is “powerful, dramatic and compelling”, the young violinist will make her official Verbier debut on 26 July, joined by Julien Quentin, Marc Bouchkov, Blythe Teh Engstroem, and Bryan Cheng in Raykhelson’s Piano Quintet No. 2. On 30 July, she will perform alongside the finest of the Verbier Generation: Yunchan Lim, Daniel Lozakovich, Timothy Ridout, and Kian Soltani. On the programme, Medtner’s monumental Piano Quintet.

Magdalena Kožená

Tue. 21.07 | Fri. 24.07 24.07

Magdalena Kožená established herself as one of the most gifted voices of her generation when, at just 22, she won the International Mozart Competition in Salzburg. The mezzo-soprano makes her long-awaited return to Verbier on 21 July alongside Martha Argerich and Alexandre Kantorow, in a concert already sold out. On 24 July, she reunites with Simon Rattle for Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle, with bass-baritone Gerald Finley and the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra.

Zofia Neugebauer

Mon. 27.07 | 3:30 PM | Église

A gifted flautist with a radiant personality, Zofia Neugebauer is in demand as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral flautist across Europe and is a member of the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra (VFCO). Alongside her appearances with the VFCO this summer, she will also take part in the Rencontres Inédites IV on 27 July, joining Emma Jüngling, Pierre Génisson, and Sara Ferrández in Stravinsky’s Three Songs from William Shakespeare.

Clara-Jumi Kang

Mon. 27.07 | Tue. 28.07 | Wed. 29.07 | Sat. 01.08 01.08

Clara-Jumi Kang makes her Verbier debut this summer. Especially acclaimed for her complete recording of Beethoven’s Violin Sonatas with Sunwook Kim, she reunites with her long-standing partner on 1 August for a programme devoted to Respighi, Weinberg and Richard Strauss. Before that, the violinist will shine on 27 July in the Mendelssohn Sextet, and in Dvořák’s rarely heard Terzetto, bringing her own joyful energy alongside Leonidas Kavakos and Timothy Ridout on 28 July, and finally in Schumann’s Piano Trio No. 2, with Minsoo Sohn and Pablo Ferrández.

Khatia Buniatishvili

Wed. 22.07 | 6:30 PM | Combins

Khatia Buniatishvili is a Franco-Georgian pianist whose spectacular virtuosity, rich tone, and magnetic stage presence have made her one of the most compelling musicians of today. She returns to Verbier on 22 July with a programme including Erik Satie’s famous Gymnopédie No. 1, Couperin’s Les Barricades mystérieuses and Schubert’s Serenade in D minor, after Ständchen. From Bach to Liszt, including his Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2, and Chopin, embark on a musical journey through the ages for a truly timeless experience.

Renée Fleming

Sat. 01.08 | 6:30 PM | Combins

With four Grammy Awards, dozens of recordings spanning recitals and opera, and the soundtracks to the Oscar-winning films The Lord of the Rings and The Shape of Water, Renée Fleming shows no signs of slowing down. Beyond her always eagerly anticipated performances, the soprano is one of the leading advocates for research at the intersection of the arts and neuroscience. This summer she will present Voice of Nature: The Anthropocene, a programme bringing together works by Fauré, Liszt, Grieg and others, inviting us to reflect on our relationship with nature through striking imagery from National Geographic.