New percussion lecturers in Lucerne
Since the fall semester of 2025, Iwan Jenny and Daniel Higler have been teaching percussion with a focus on orchestra at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts – Music.
The Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts writes about the new lecturers:
Iwan Jenny, born in 1979, from Escholzmatt-Marbach LU, is a drummer with wide-ranging interests. In addition to his position with the orchestra, he maintains an active freelance concert career in various formations. He studied at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts – Music with Erwin Bucher. He completed both master's degrees in music education and orchestra with the highest distinction. This was followed by further percussion studies with Franz Lang at the State University of Music in Trossingen, Germany. His overall victory in the 2002 Swiss Percussion Competition earned him a scholarship to study at the Drummers Collective in New York. From 2008 to 2012, Iwan Jenny was a percussionist with the Musikkollegium Winterthur, and since 2012 he has been principal timpanist with the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra. He is also a permanent member of the Swiss National Orchestra, the 21st Century Orchestra, and the Swiss Brass Consort, and plays as a guest in various Swiss baroque orchestras. Iwan Jenny has won several competition prizes (including the Friedl Wald Foundation Basel and the Axelle and Max Koch Cultural Foundation Lucerne).
Daniel Higler, born in 1992 in Villingen-Schwenningen, is a percussionist and timpanist who is equally at home in classical concert halls and on the concert stage. After completing his bachelor's degree at the State University of Music and Performing Arts in Stuttgart and his master's degree at the State University of Music in Trossingen, he specialized in orchestral playing. He gained his first important experience in academies and internships with ensembles such as the SWR Symphony Orchestra and the Stuttgart Philharmonic. This was followed by engagements with the Frankfurt Opera and Museum Orchestra, among others. Since 2023, Daniel Higler has been principal timpanist and percussionist with the Theater Orchestra Biel Solothurn. In addition to his work in the orchestra, he cultivates a wide stylistic range: he has performed as a soloist with the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie and premiered contemporary works with the SWR Vocal Ensemble. Daniel Higler has also been active outside the classical repertoire, for example as a drum set player on tours with singer-songwriter Konstantin Wecker.
