The purpose of the Foundation is:

a. to organize, in and around Sion, in the field of music:

• – The Summer Academy, and / or masterclasses during the year;
• – The Violin Competition;
• – The Classical Music Festival;
• – Any other event consistent with the Foundation’s aims

 

b. To achieve these goals, it can:

• – To exchange services, within the framework of service contracts agreed with the Hautes Ecoles de Musique, in particular the Sion site of the HEMU Vaud-Valais-Fribourg, to establish the continuous delivery of education services
• – To organise, on its own initiative or within the framework of performance mandates, events contributing to the musical influence of Sion and the Valais, both within and outside the cantonal borders;
• – Seek the collaboration of other partner institutions to achieve its goals in order to develop a centre of musical excellence in the Valais;
• -The Foundation may also develop any activities likely to contribute to the achievement of its principal aim.

Tibor Junior

In 2018 the Foundation has the great pleasure to announce the inauguration of the Tibor International Junior Violin Competition, dedicated to young violinists aged between 14 and 17 years old. The details of this competition are as follows:

• -The selected candidates will play with a professional orchestra, including during the first round of the competition
• -The jury will consist of successful international artists
• -The candidates who are unsuccessful in being selected for the final will be included in the jury for the following round of the competition, which will help them gain an understanding of the challenge of judging.
• -The finalists will perform the 2nd Movement of the D minor Concerto for two violins, BWV 1043 with a member of the Jury.

Link to the Tibor Junior International Violin competition, Switzerland

Tourbillon de Sion

Each year the violin competition is an opportunity to be captivated by a rising generation of promising and brilliantly talented artists. More and more candidates from all over the world come to Sion each summer and remind us that, more than ever, the world of classical music is alive and has an exciting future. However, where would these violinists, full of youth, virtuosity and sensitivity, be without the benevolent, demanding, rigorous teachers behind them? The teacher is the keystone of a young artist’s development; they are the ones who accompany, inspire, assist, and continually develop a young musician’s knowledge of art and self.

The Sion Festival, aware of the necessity and value of this master-student relationship, has therefore decided to create a new award which will henceforth recognise a particularly remarkable teacher each year: the Tourbillon de Sion.

The tourbillon, a rotating cage that mechanically absorbs the small disturbances caused by gravity, is the quintessence of watchmaking perfection – it is a symbol of brilliant technicality, at the service of precision and elegance. For the people of Sion, the word Tourbillon also evokes the beauty and durability of a solid heritage, resistant to numerous conflicts over the centuries. These are many of the qualities that contribute to the richness and depth of a fruitful teaching.

In 2018 the Tourbillon de Sion was presented during the final of the Tibor Junior International Violin Competition.

Past winners