The communication and collaboration that produce great music often starts well before a performance, beginning at the level of cultural institutions.
When Stanford Live welcomes the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra (VFCO) to campus for a five-day residency April 21–25, the aim is for Stanford students and audiences to discover the ideas and outlook of a top-level European ensemble and acquire an international perspective.
Every summer since 1994, the charming mountain town of Verbier, Switzerland, has hosted a popular and world-renowned music festival. Its longevity speaks not only to the quality of performances there but also to a broader mission — educating and inspiring early-career musicians, who are the core of the annual event. Led by founder and director Martin Engstrom, the Verbier Festival brings together sought-after teachers, star performers, and young musicians who range in age from their teens to their early 30s, many of whom go on to become acclaimed soloists, chamber musicians, and singers.
This ethos matches up well with that of a presenter like Stanford Live, anchored in a university community and able to attract an international array of talent.
The format of the festival’s residency at Stanford will be similar to a summer in Verbier and include coaching sessions and workshops for students, as well as master classes, a music business roundtable, and concerts that the public can attend. The week will culminate with a performance by the VFCO on April 25 in Bing Concert Hall.
That ensemble, which is comprised of outstanding alumni from the festival’s training program, last toured to the West Coast 16 years ago. This is the first time the group will be doing a weeklong U.S. residency.
Speaking from his home in Switzerland, Hervé Boissière, who was recently named co-CEO of the festival, shared his history with Verbier. Before founding the arts-on-demand streaming service Medici.tv in 2008, he was coordinating the live broadcast of concerts from the festival the year before.
“Martin Engstrom was the first to understand and open his door [to us and the idea of livestreaming], and it was a huge success,” Boissière explained.
In fact, Engstrom was even more enthusiastic than Boissière himself. “The funny thing is, I said, ‘Let’s make a test of two or three concerts at the very beginning,’” Boissière recounted. “I didn’t know how it would work technically [because] nothing was in place. And he said, ‘Oh come on, two concerts? That’s not what I want — I want 20 concerts.’ And then every summer I was coming back to Verbier, and it became a highlight of the season for Medici.tv. It was really incredible because at that time, it was really the beginning [of livestreaming].”
Boissière is keenly aware of the connection between the festival’s interest in new technology and Stanford’s long history of groundbreaking science and innovation. And in his new role, he’s constantly thinking about the festival’s future plans, which include building an indoor concert hall for year-round performances and engaging in more touring.
“We have a bigger responsibility in the performing arts than ever before to be more creative,” he said. “Especially in the context of the festival being 30 years old, which is already an amazing achievement, how do you continue to be in the front row and create the desire [for future generations] to attend this festival in the coming decades? That is a super exciting challenge.”
According to Boissière, the upcoming residency was finalized when Albert Montañez-Sanchez, producer of artistic programs at Stanford Live, attended Verbier last summer.
“It was clear that on both sides we wanted to share this large base of activities, which fits very well with Stanford,” Boissière remembered. “[Montañez-Sanchez] went to the morning concerts, the master classes, and the night concerts for free in the church. So he really got the feeling of the festival, and I think that was enough to convince and inspire him.”
Iris Nemani, director of Stanford Live, shared some more backstory about her staff’s scouting: “It started with, ‘We want a chamber orchestra. [In our season programming] we are exploring [Gustav] Mahler and the Second Viennese School repertoire, so who might be a good option?’ And Verbier was at the top of the list.”
Nemani continued, “Programming international artists is also a big part of Stanford Live’s mandate because it’s an opportunity for our students to get more of an international perspective.”
She summed up what the residency means for Stanford. “This is a special opportunity, both for faculty and for students, to have these moments of engagement and sharing of information and learning,” she said. “The arts are critical. They’re about kindness, about sharing, about learning from each other and listening to each other. That’s what music is. You can’t really teach that per se, but you embody it and live it.”
Cellist Christopher Costanza, an artist-in-residence in the Stanford University Department of Music for the past 22 years, explained that having Verbier on campus is also part of a plan to foster connections between Stanford Live and the music department. Ahead of next week’s residency, he has been coaching student chamber groups, including one from a local high school.
“We have four representative groups coming to get coaching from members of the [VFCO],” Costanza said. “[The students] will be playing in a master class and performing in a showcase concert on Wednesday [April 23] in Bing Concert Hall, which is very exciting for them because many of them don’t generally get that opportunity and it’s such a magnificent space.
“I predict a great experience for all,” he continued. “There have been other residencies, a couple of days here and there, but I think this one is going to stand out as pretty significant.”
The finale concert on April 25 will be led by VFCO Music Director Gábor Takács-Nagy and include Arnold Schoenberg’s Transfigured Night, Mahler’s Songs of a Wayfarer, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7.
For now, the collaboration is just getting started. “Stanford is a worldwide destination,” Boissière reflected. “I think it’s a beautiful dialogue between two platforms caring a lot about education, about the new generation, about the future, to make it the best possible. We know we will play in a place that is not just one more concert hall. We are very honored to be there because it has a tradition, it has a history, it has something different.”
