Classical music for all in Brugg with "echo"
With its "echo" music education project, the Brugg Festival is setting new standards in cultural promotion for children and young people. From August 31 to September 6, around 1000 schoolchildren will experience classical music up close - free of charge and without fear of contact.
What began in 2023 with 300 to 400 schoolchildren has now become the heart of the Brugg Festival. The "echo" mediation project has seen impressive growth: over 800 young people took part in 2024, and 1000 children and young people are expected for the first time in 2025.
"People always say that classical music is elitist, but that's not the case here in Brugg," emphasizes Sebastian Bohren, violinist and artistic director of the festival. "With 'echo', we also reach the general public." At the end of June, the festival already had over 600 registrations, including more than 100 secondary school pupils for the first time.
Direct contact instead of schoolmasters
The recipe for success of "echo" lies in its unconventional approach. Instead of teacherly pedagogy, the organizers focus on direct encounters with charismatic musical personalities. Pupils can try out instruments for themselves and experience classical music "very directly", as Bohren explains. Music and movement teacher Noëmi Dittli moderates all "echo" events.
Walter H. Rambousek, Head of Music Education, has tailored the presentation of the events to the four participant groups: 1st to 3rd grade, 4th to 6th grade, 7th to 9th grade (upper school) and music school. "Entry into the world of classical music needs a door opener. 'echo' is the key to this," he says.
18 Events and new offers
This year's "echo" program includes 18 events in three categories. They are free of charge for pupils from Brugg School, including Brugg Music School, as well as for teachers and accompanying school staff. In addition to moderated concerts with artist talks, school classes can also attend concert rehearsals, take part in "meet and greet" sessions or experience violin maker Gerhard Burger at work. Another new addition to the program is a guided tour of the organ in the Reformed City Church of Brugg - a request that came directly from schoolchildren.
The highlight of the family program is The carnival of the animals by Camille Saint-Saëns. The work will be performed twice on September 4 for school classes and in the evening as a family concert. The timeless suite from 1886 with its dancing elephants and gliding swans is considered an ideal introduction to classical music.
Cooperation as a success factor
The project is based on a close collaboration between the Stretta Concerts association, the Brugg school and the Brugg music school. A total of 1700 children and young people attend Brugg school, 755 of whom receive instrumental lessons at the music school.
"World class on your doorstep - where else can you find that?" enthuses Simon Moesch. He is a teacher at the Brugg district school and a member of the "echo" program group. Stephan Langenbach, head of the Brugg music school, sees "immense added value" in the project. The distance between classical musicians and children is noticeably reduced.
Financial support enables free offers
Thanks to the support of the Julius Stäbli Foundation, pupils of the Brugg School and Music School can attend all regular concerts of the festival free of charge - provided they are accompanied by a paying adult. For other children under the age of 16, admission to the family concert costs The carnival of the animals 10 francs.
The "fifty-five minutes" lunchtime concerts at the Cinema Odeon are aimed specifically at families. They create a low-threshold opportunity to encounter classical music outside of a full-length program.
The Brugg Festival will take place from August 31 to September 6, 2025. The organizers' vision is for the younger generation to pass on their love of classical music to their families and thus create a new generation of classical music lovers.
