The Swiss mezzo-soprano STEPHANIE SZANTO performs in the areas of concert, song and opera. She has worked, among others, with the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, the Symphony Orchestra Biel, the Lucerne Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestra of Bach Collegium Zurich and the Human Rights Orchestra. Further engagements led her to the Biel/Solothurn Opera, the GAIA Festival and the Murten Classics Festival. In the Season 2017 Stephanie Szanto debuted as “Hänsel” in E. Humperdinck’s opera ‘Hänsel and Gretel’ at the Luzerner Theater and at the Kunsthaus Zürich, where she performed the solo opera “Proofing Evidence” by the English artist Cally Spooner. Szanto has appeared in several world premieres, has been invited as a speaker to an international TEDx event and has won numerous competitions and scholarships. She is a laureate of the Edwin Fischer Foundation, the Nicati de Luze Lausanne, the Swiss Richard Wagner Society and many others. Stephanie Szanto studied with Elisabeth Glauser in Bern and deepened her studies with Barbara Locher in Lucerne, while at the same time she studied jazz singing and composition at the Bern University of the Arts/Jazz.

Swiss pianist SIMON BUCHER is a sought-after international soloist, improviser, chamber musician and accompanist. He has appeared at the Centre Pompidou Paris, KKL Luzern, Tonhalle Zürich, MoMA New York and music festivals like the Budapest Spring Festival, Ruhr Piano Festival, Carinthian Summer, Nargen-Festival, Murten Classics or GAIAFestival. The press and audiences alike applaud his piano playing: „The drive of pianist Simon Bucher, along with his sensitivity as an accompanist are integral to the performance’s success“ (Gramophone). After studying at the University of the Arts of his hometown Bern with Erika Radermacher and Tomasz Herbut he completed his training in master courses with Ruben Lifschitz, Klaus Hellwig and Irwin Gage. Bucher ist prizewinner of the Swiss Musicians Association and the international Johannes Brahms Competition and he is artistic director of the concert series Das Lied – Liedrezitale Bern. He released several CDs under labels like ARS Produktion, Carus and Orchid Classics.