By Michael Haefliger

Here is a project very close to my heart: This year marked the 25th time that the Young Artists in Concert was held in Davos. It was with this wonderful festival honoring young talent that I began my own career as an artistic director. To celebrate this anniversary, I have invited a Russian string quartet and an Israeli pianist who recently enjoyed a triumph in Davos to perform a matinee of chamber music in Lucerne on 21 August .

During my last year as a violin student at the Juilliard School in New York, a bold idea occurred to me: I had the dream of founding my own festival, one which would be completely dominated by young artists—by their playing, their enthusiasm, and their desire to make the world anew. I was convinced that this could serve as a counterpart to the mainstream of “high-gloss culture,” with all its celebrities. Not that I didn’t also admire famous and successful musicians: yet I was focused on giving the younger generation a chance to hold the reins and on encouraging their initiative. And true to the plan, now we no longer wait to be “discovered” but present our own concerts. The city of Davos, where my father Ernst Haefliger was born, seemed to me to be the right place to implement the project, and in fact I met with support there. I found an important partner in Bruno Gerber, director of the Tourist Office, who helped me transform my dream into reality. From the start, since the Festival’s launch in the summer of 1986, the Young Artists in Concert has proved to be a success story. Davos became a Mecca for young stars, the scene of the future.

I directed the Festival for twelve years, and I maintain a special connection with what continues to be “my child.” Many ideas that have since shaped LUCERNE FESTIVAL are rooted in my period in Davos: for example, projects such as the LUCERNE FESTIVAL ACADEMY or our commitment to contemporary music. So it was important for me to invite some of the young artists who were recently acclaimed in Davos to come to Lucerne and celebrate the 25th anniversary of Young Artists in Concert together. These include the multiple-prize-winning Atrium Quartet from Russia, who will play works by Borodin and César Franck, and the 25-year-old Israeli pianist Roman Rabinovich, who won the 2008 Arthur Rubinstein Competition. Rabinovich is, moreover, a gifted visual artist and will exhibit some of his paintings and sketches in conjunction with his concert in the Church of St. Luke.