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Monique Werro – The Grande Dame du Jazz en Suisse

MONIQUE WERRO

Swiss Producer

The Grande Dame du Jazz en Suisse

Photo by Warie Porbeni

Even as a youngster, I was always interested in jazz. I attended every concert at the Kursaal Bern, including the Jazz Festival Bern and the Montreux Jazz Festival. A large part of my small salary was spent on concert tickets. I had the pleasure and the great honor of getting to know some of the most famous artists of the time. After the concerts, there was a jam session and I was invited to be there with my friends. These jam sessions went on into the wee hours of the morning. It was heavenly!

When I met Claude Nobs, the founder of Montreux Jazz, it was clear that he met so many people he could hardly remember everyone. At the ticket office, the women in charge had become my good friend. Véronique van Hoorn took managed that office for several years. Later, it was Isabelle Voeffray.

One evening, Véro introduced me to her husband Reinier van Hoorn. He was Dutch and had attended hotel management school. He worked for Montreux Tourism and was responsible for Claude Nobs’ Jazz Off Festival. We became close friends, over the years.

In Israel, I managed Club Ashkelon with 220 bungalows, 500 beds, and a giant stage. I realized my dream, when I founded the first jazz festival with great bands from Israel. These concerts were held from 1984 to 1989! The last festival was organized from Switzerland, after my return home. In the fall of 1988, I had to leave the country because of intifada, the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip that began in 1987.

Back in Switzerland, I managed the Sherlock Holmes Hotel in Meiringen. I phoned Claude Nobs and said that, after my first experience in Israel, I would like to organize a mini-festival in the Bernese Oberland. He asked, “Meiringen? C’est où? Meiringen? Where is this?” That ended my request.

Four years later, I became the hostess at the Seehotel Bären in Brienz, on the magical lake, Lac au lac (lake to lake). I said, “Claude, Reinier, now you can no longer say NO!” They said, “Yes, and what would you call your festival?” I said, “Of course, Montreux Meets Brienz!”

Claude Nobs responded, “Oh, what a cheek! Not only does she want the name Montreux but also groups from the Jazz Off Festival. However, Reinier supported me from the first second and succeeded in convincing his boss Michel Ferla, Directeur de l’Office du Tourisme, of my plans.

So, in 1994, we started the first jazz festival Montreux Meets Brienz with the blessing of Claude Nobs, Michel Ferla, and Reinier van Hoorn. We organized nine concerts with groups in concert at the Jazz Off Festival in Montreux.

I was enthusiastic about the posters that Claude Nobs created, annually, with well-known artists. Naturally, I wanted to have my own poster! By pure chance, I met Didier Bécet from Tours, France. He designed our first poster that became a huge hit. Many artists from the region, around Switzerland, and from abroad were excited about creating a poster based on their ideas. Throughout the years, 25 artists from Switzerland and around the world have designed the posters. Two artists each designed two posters. Didier Becet & Peter Sochor.

The collection is unique! My thanks to the artists - Infinite!

Reinier van Hoorn of Montreux Jazz and I represented Montreux meets Brienz at the International Association of Jazz Educators (IAJE) in Anaheim, California, in 1995. There were several thousand artists, teachers, and journalists. I had the great pleasure of meeting Richard Dunscomb, a respected personality in the jazz world. Richard helped to organize the Jazz Off Festival in Montreux. He was responsible for the overseas groups.

Richard promised me to support my idea! From that moment on, big bands from different universities in America registered with us. How absolutely proud and thrilled I was when the name Brienz was printed on the artists’ T-shirts, under all the illustrious names of the most famous jazz festivals in Europe! A great thank you Richard!

The musicians loved the variety, they were able to get to know a completely new region and played in different places around Brienz for the first few years. After five years, it became difficult for the other Brienz organizers to promote last-minute performances and they cancelled future free performances!

Urs Gossweiler, publisher of the Jungfrau-Zeitung Interlaken, came up with the following suggestion, “You want to stop? That’s out of question. You must organize all future concerts at the Seehotel Bären. You can have a few more appearances at your Sherlock Alpenclub, a nightclub in Meiringen. So, the Seehotel Bären became the sole venue for over 330 concerts. In addition, several bands made guest appearances in Meiringen, every year, until 2000.

The groups from Montreux were joined by young artists who came from the jazz schools, especially from Switzerland. They were happy to perform for an interested audience. European groups that heard about our festival were interested and the festival grew. In the past three years, 92 events have taken place, during the summer season. Initially, the dates were the same as the Montreux Jazz Festival. We expanded the weeks and months so that performances were announced from mid-June to mid-September of each year.

When other events took place in Brienz like the Wood Sculptor Symposium, Quai Festival, and Rock Festival, these dates were taboo for our performances! But there were so many opportunities around it and the musicians were delighted with their stay on the magical Lake Brienz, an astonishing holiday oasis. The publisher of the JungfrauZeitung and the regional newspapers, Urs Gossweiler had a great idea. He awarded the Herbert Prize to sports personalities, artists, and politicians who set special accents. Claude Nobs was awarded the Herbert Prize as thanks for his commitment to jazz and music at his world-famous Montreux Jazz Festival, and for his help in launching our jazz festival in Brienz.

Many jazz formations stopped by the Bären, every now and then, to register for future concerts. One of the musicians, Marvio Ciribelli the gifted pianist, took part in our first jazz festival. He came here, straight from Montreux. When we held the 25-year-old Montreux meets Brienz, in 2018, he wanted to be here. He traveled from Rio de Janeiro and brought friends from Brazil and Europe. He entertained us for seven days with a new program! He was full of enthusiasm, infectious joie de vivre, and he enriched us with excellent music.

The musicians who have taken part over the past 27 years were happy to present their performances on the magical Lake Brienz, which delighted young and old. They deserve an immense Thank You! We would like to say, “Many thanks” to the artists who have pampered

us with wonderfully fascinating posters over the course of 27 years, which differed so much from year to year. They made us happy with their great poster design!

Our sponsors covered part of the costs! There was no admission fee, consumption surcharge, or obligation to order anything at the Seehotel Bären restaurant. All of the concerts were free. Some of the groups collected tips and sold CDs, which covered their expenses. From 1994 to 2020, we organized 449 concerts with 380 bands of 3,427 musicians. In all, 201 formations were from Switzerland, 56 were from Europe, and 123 were from USA, Canada, and the rest of the world. Since many groups from overseas were accompanied by family members and fans, there are 663 more participants, for a total of 4,090 people who felt comfortable in our spectacular venue! Our sound engineers were Rolf Häsler and Roman Wiedemar from Interlaken, and Bärni Gafner from Thun. The Seehotel Bären employees set up the stage, organized back up material, and supported the artists in every way. Our kitchen brigade cooked for all the artists who were spoiled by the service team! We are most grateful for all of our staff!

A big “Thank you!” to the publisher of the newspapers in our region, as well as all the journalists who kept talking about happenings and informing the readers about our concerts! Without our dear spectators, the musicians would have stopped appearing in Brienz. You made it possible for everyone to have a great performance. You listened, were enthralled by the wonderful concerts, and were satisfied and happy! You thanked our musicians with great applause! It is up to all of us to return the applause to you for your attendance, participation, and enjoyment. Please receive our warm appreciation. I offer a huge Thank you to Claude, Michel, and Reinier, and to dear Urs with heartfelt gratitude!

Sincerely, Monique, Seehotel Bären Hauptstrasse 72, 3855 Brienz 033 951 24 12 werro@seehotel-baeren-brienz.ch

Even as a youngster, I was always interested in jazz. I attended every concert at the Kursaal Bern, including the Jazz Festival Bern and the Montreux Jazz Festival. Monique Werro

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