Michael Haefliger (born May 2, 1961) is a Swiss

arts administrator Arts administration (alternatively arts management) is a field in the arts sector that facilitates programming within cultural organizations. Arts administrators are responsible for facilitating the day-to-day operations of the organization as we ...

. Since 1999, he has served as Executive and Artistic Director of the

Lucerne Festival Lucerne Festival is one of the leading international festivals in the world of classical music and presents a series of classical music festivals based in Lucerne, Switzerland. Founded in 1938 by Ernest Ansermet and Walter Schulthess, it curr ...

; he is also the co-founder of the

Lucerne Festival Orchestra The Lucerne Festival Orchestra is a European ''ad hoc'' seasonal orchestra based at the annual Lucerne Festival in Switzerland. History The Lucerne Festival had featured a resident orchestra as far back as 1938, with Arturo Toscanini conducting ...

Lucerne Festival Academy The Lucerne Festival Academy is an orchestra-sized educational institution devoted exclusively to the interpretation and performance of contemporary classical music. It has taken place each summer since 2003 in the Swiss city of Lucerne as part of t ...

, and Davos Festival—Young Artists in Concert.

Early life and education

Michael Haefliger was

born Born may refer to: * Childbirth * Born (surname), a surname (see also for a list of people with the name) * ''Born'' (comics), a comic book limited series Places * Born, Belgium, a village in the German-speaking Community of Belgium * Born, Luxe ...

West Berlin West Berlin ( or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin from 1948 until 1990, during the Cold War. Although West Berlin lacked any sovereignty and was under military occupation until German reunification in 1 ...

in 1961 to Swiss

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

Ernst Haefliger Ernst Haefliger (6 July 191917 March 2007) was a Swiss tenor. Biography Haefliger was born in Davos, Switzerland, on 6 July 1919 and studied at the Wettinger Seminary and the Zürich Conservatory. Later he became a pupil of Fernando Carpi in ...

and architect Anna Golin; he is the brother of

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

Andreas Haefliger Andreas Haefliger (born September 11, 1962) is a German-born Swiss pianist. Early life and education Born in Berlin on September 11, 1962, Haefliger is the youngest son of famed tenor Ernst Haefliger and interior designer and architect Anna Gol ...

and actress Christine Marecek. He was raised in Berlin until the age of nine, when the family relocated to

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. A musical child, he began studying

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

and

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

at the age of 6. In 1978, he enrolled in the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, where he studied violin with

Ivan Galamian Ivan Alexander Galamian (; April 14, 1981) was an Armenian-American violin teacher of the twentieth century who was the violin teacher of many seminal violin players including Itzhak Perlman and Kyung Wha Chung. Biography Galamian was born in ...

and

Dorothy DeLay Dorothy DeLay (March 31, 1917 – March 24, 2002) was an American violin teacher, instructor, primarily at the Juilliard School, Sarah Lawrence College, and the University of Cincinnati. Life Dorothy DeLay was born on March 31, 1917, in Medic ...

. He graduated in 1983 with a

Bachelor of Music A Bachelor of Music (BMus; sometimes conferred as Bachelor of Musical Arts) is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of a program of study in music. The degree may be awarded for performance, music ed ...

degree. He subsequently studied management at the Schools of Business, Law, and Social Sciences at

University of St. Gallen The University of St. Gallen (HSG) is a research university located in St. Gallen, Switzerland, that specialises in business administration, economics, law, international affairs, and computer science. It was established in 1898. It consistent ...

, earning his Executive

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

in 1999. In 2003, Haefliger received a scholarship through the Harvard Club of Switzerland to attend the General Management Program at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

Early career (1986–1998)

Initially pursuing a career as a professional violinist, Haefliger made numerous festival appearances in his youth, including performances at

Interlaken Interlaken (; lit.: ''between lakes'') is a Swiss town and municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the canton of Bern. It is an important and well-known tourist destination in the Bernese Oberland region of the Swiss ...

Festival dei Due Mondi The ''Festival dei Due Mondi'' (Festival of the Two Worlds) is an annual summer music and opera festival held each June to early July in Spoleto, Italy, since its founding by composer Gian Carlo Menotti in 1958. It features a vast array of conc ...

Spoleto Spoleto (, also , , ; ) is an ancient city in the Italian province of Perugia in east-central Umbria on a foothill of the Apennines. It is south of Trevi, north of Terni, southeast of Perugia; southeast of Florence; and north of Rome. H ...

, and, with his brother,

Andreas Andreas () is a name derived from the Greek noun ἀνήρ ''anēr'', with genitive ἀνδρός ''andros'', which means "man". See the article on Andrew for more information. The Scandinavian name is earliest attested as antreos in a runeston ...

, at the Lucerne Festival—then known as the International Music Festival Lucerne. In 1986, he founded the Davos Festival—Young Artists in Concert; he remained Artistic Director until 1998. Over his tenure, the festival developed into an opportunity for rising artists to grow their careers through a two-week series of concert performances and intensive, individual training. During this time, Haefliger also served as Artistic Director of Collegium Novum in

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

(CNZ) from 1996–1998.

Lucerne Festival (1999–2025)

Haefliger was named Artistic and Executive Director of the Lucerne Festival in 1999. Immediately upon assuming this role, he established a tradition of partnering with resident orchestras to present projects tied to an overarching theme, accompanied by world premieres of works by internationally-known composers. Among them were the

Berliner Philharmoniker The Berlin Philharmonic () is a German orchestra based in Berlin. It is one of the most popular, acclaimed and well-respected orchestras in the world. Throughout the 20th century, the orchestra was led by conductors Wilhelm Furtwängler (1922� ...

Vienna Philharmonic Vienna Philharmonic (VPO; ) is an orchestra that was founded in 1842 and is considered to be one of the finest in the world. The Vienna Philharmonic is based at the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria. Its members are selected from the orchestra of ...

Los Angeles Philharmonic The Los Angeles Philharmonic (LA Phil) is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. The orchestra holds a regular concert season from October until June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall and a summer season at the Hollywood Bowl from ...

, and

The Cleveland Orchestra The Cleveland Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Cleveland, Ohio. Founded in 1918 by the pianist and impresario Adella Prentiss Hughes, the orchestra is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the " Big Five". T ...

, and conductors such as

Claudio Abbado Claudio Abbado (; 26 June 1933 – 20 January 2014) was an Italian conductor who was one of the leading conductors of his generation. He served as music director of the La Scala opera house in Milan, principal conductor of the Berlin Philharm ...

Gustavo Dudamel Gustavo Adolfo Dudamel Ramírez (born 26 January 1981) is a Venezuelan conductor. He is currently the music director of the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He is scheduled to become the Music and Artistic ...

Zubin Mehta Zubin Mehta (born 29 April 1936) is an Indian conductor of Western classical music. He is music director emeritus of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) and conductor :wikt:emeritus, emeritus of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Mehta's father ...

Kirill Petrenko Kirill Garrievich Petrenko (, Latin script: ; born 11 February 1972) is a Russian-Austrian conductor. He is chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic. Early life Petrenko was born in Omsk, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union, to a violinist father and m ...

Sir Simon Rattle Sir Simon Denis Rattle (born 19 January 1955) is a British conductor with German citizenship. He rose to international prominence during the 1980s and 1990s, while music director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (1980–1998). Ratt ...

Esa-Pekka Salonen Esa-Pekka Salonen (; born 30 June 1958) is a Finnish conducting, conductor and composer. He is the music director of the San Francisco Symphony and conductor laureate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra in London and the Sw ...

, and

Franz Welser-Möst Franz Leopold Maria Möst (born 16 August 1960), known professionally as Franz Welser-Möst, is an Austrian conductor. He is currently music director of the Cleveland Orchestra. Biography Franz Leopold Maria Möst was born in Linz, Austria, ...

. That same year, Haefliger established the ''artist étoile'' residencies, featuring artists from all musical disciplines and focuses. Previous ''artists étoiles'' include pianists

Daniil Trifonov Daniil Olegovich Trifonov (; born 5 March 1991) is a Russian pianist and composer. Described by ''The Globe and Mail'' as "arguably today's leading classical virtuoso" and by ''The Times'' as "without question the most astounding pianist of our ...

Yuja Wang Yuja Wang () is a Chinese-born American pianist. Born in Beijing, she began learning piano there at age six, and went on to study at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing and the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. By age 21, s ...

, and

Hélène Grimaud Hélène Rose Paule Grimaud (born 7 November 1969) is a French classical pianist and the founder of the Wolf Conservation Center in South Salem, New York. Early life and education Grimaud was born in Aix-en-Provence, France, the daughter of te ...

; violinists Leonidas Kavakos and Anne-Sophie Mutter;

sopranos A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to A5 in choral music, or to ...

Golda Schultz Golda Schultz is a South African soprano. Early life and education Golda Schultz, daughter of a mathematics professor, grew up in Bloemfontein. She studied singing at the University of Cape Town and at the Juilliard School in New York. She wa ...

and

Barbara Hannigan Barbara Hannigan (born 8 May 1971) is a Canadian soprano and conductor, known for her performances of contemporary classical music. Education Hannigan's initial musical education came from music teachers in her hometown of Waverley, Nova Sco ...

;

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

Tyshawn Sorey Tyshawn Sorey (born July 8, 1980) is an American composer, multi-instrumentalist, and professor of contemporary music. Sorey has received accolades for performances, recordings, and compositions ranging from improvised solo percussion to opera, ...

; and conductor

Andris Nelsons Andris Nelsons (born 18 November 1978) is a Latvian conductor. He is currently music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and ''Gewandhauskapellmeister'' of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. He was previously music director of the Lat ...

. In 2003, Haefliger established a new resident orchestra, the

—an ad-hoc, invite-only ensemble comprising leading soloists and ensemble musicians from around the world—with Claudio Abbado. Since its establishment, the Lucerne Festival Orchestra has become well-known as a performing ensemble around the world, with numerous recordings and concert tours and residencies in Europe, Asia, and the United States. Upon Abbado's death in 2014, Haefliger named

Riccardo Chailly Riccardo Chailly (, ; born 20 February 1953) is an Italian conductor. He is currently music director of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra and of La Scala. Prior to this, he held chief conducting positions at the Gewandhausorchester (2005–20 ...

as the Music Director of the Festival Orchestra. Also in 2003, Haefliger co-founded the

with

Pierre Boulez Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 19255 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war contemporary classical music. Born in Montb ...

. The Academy invites and funds more than 100 young musicians annually to work directly with conductors and composers from all over the world, with a focus on enhancing the understanding and performance of works from the 20th and 21st centuries. The Lucerne Festival Contemporary Orchestra, launched in 2021, is composed of members of the Lucerne Festival Academy. Since Boulez's death in 2016,

Wolfgang Rihm Wolfgang Rihm (; 13 March 1952 – 27 July 2024) was a German composer of contemporary classical music and an academic teacher based in Karlsruhe. He was an influential post-war European composer, as "one of the most original and independent mus ...

has served as Artistic Director of the Academy. Under Haefliger's leadership, the Festival has commissioned more than 300 works by contemporary composers, nearly doubled its operating budget from CHF 13 million in 1999 to 22 million in 2019, and maintained a 95% self-financing rate. He has also overseen several diversity initiatives, intended to impact both the Festival's leadership and the classical music industry as a whole. Accompanying these efforts are programs intended to broaden the Lucerne Festival's audience base, such as the "40 Minutes" series for families and Haefliger has also overseen the launch of three smaller festivals under the Lucerne Festival umbrella: the “Lucerne Festival Forward” contemporary music festival, which takes place in November; a spring festival featuring the Lucerne Festival Orchestra; and a piano festival that takes place in May. The Festival's influence has also extended beyond Lucerne under Haefliger's watch, with tours throughout Europe, Asia, and the United States, and extended residencies at

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

's Symphony Hall and

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

Suntory Hall The is a concert venue in the central Akasaka district of Tokyo, Japan. Part of the Ark Hills complex, it consists of a main concert hall, widely considered one of the finest in the world for its acoustics – Herbert von Karajan called it “ ...

. Beyond performance, Haefliger has led collaborations between the Lucerne Festival and artists, notably including the

Ark Nova ''Ark Nova'' is a strategic board game for up to four people. It was designed by game designer Mathias Wigge, and first published in 2021. In ''Ark Nova'', players aim to score conservation and appeal points by building a zoo. Upon its release, ...

mobile concert hall, created in collaboration with

Anish Kapoor Sir Anish Mikhail Kapoor (born 12 March 1954) is a British sculptor specializing in installation art and conceptual art. Born in Mumbai, Kapoor attended the elite all-boys Indian boarding school The Doon School, before moving to the United Ki ...

and

Arata Isozaki Arata Isozaki (磯崎新, ''Isozaki Arata''; 23 July 1931 – 28 December 2022) was a Japanese architect, urban designer, and theorist from Ōita, Ōita, Ōita. He was awarded the Royal Gold Medal in 1986 and the Pritzker Architecture Prize i ...

for people affected by the 2011 earthquake and tsuanami in Japan. First launched in

Matsushima is a group of islands in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. There are some 260 tiny islands (''shima'') covered in pines (''matsu'') – hence the name – and it is considered to be one of the Three Views of Japan. Nearby cultural properti ...

in 2013, Ark Nova has since been installed in

Sendai is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Miyagi Prefecture and the largest city in the Tōhoku region. , the city had a population of 1,098,335 in 539,698 households, making it the List of cities in Japan, twelfth most populated city in Japan. ...

, Fukushima, and

Roppongi Roppongi (, , 'six trees') is a district of Minato, Tokyo, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, famous for the affluent Roppongi Hills development area and popular night club scene. A few foreign embassies are located near Roppongi, and the night life is popu ...

. In November 2022, the Lucerne Festival announced that Haefliger would conclude his directorship in 2025.

Honors and awards

In 2000, Haefliger was named Global Leader for Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum Foundation in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

. Other awards include the European Cultural Innovation Award (2003); the Tourism Award of the Tourism Forum Lucerne; the Central Swiss Cultural Prize (2014); the Award of the Swiss Society of New York (2014); and the Badge of Honor of the City of Lucerne (2014). Haefliger serves on the boards of the Lang Lang International Music Foundation, UBS Cultural Foundation, Pierre Boulez Foundation, Davos Festival Foundation, and Foundation of the Swiss Music Youth Competition. He is the Chairman of the Jury for the Credit Suisse Young Artist Award, and Vice-Chairman of the Board of the Swiss Top Events. He previously served on the boards of the World Arts Forum, American Friends of Lucerne Festival, and Avenir Suisse Foundation in Switzerland.

Personal life

Haefliger lives in Lucerne, Switzerland. He speaks German, English, Spanish, French, Italian, and Russian. In 2015, he married the flutist Andrea Loetscher.

References

External links

* People from Berlin Swiss violinists People from Lucerne Arts administrators 1961 births {{DEFAULTSORT:Haefliger, Michael Living people