Forum Wallis

Biography

Forum Wallis is a Swiss Contemporary Music Festival based in Valais/Switzerland. Founded in 2006 it is yet one of the major Contemporary Music Festivals in Switzerland. Forum Wallis is organised by the newest local ISCM section in Switzerland, IGNM-VS, administered by Swiss ISCM's president Javier Hagen. It is always staged over the Whitsun holiday. Forum Wallis is dedicated to Contemporary Music in toto, but also focusses on the works of living Swiss and Valaisan composers and performing artists. The festival can look back on an exceptional history, with hundreds of premières, spectacular productions and numerous composers featured from across the globe. Among the highlights of its first decade have been Stockhausen's 'Helicopter String Quartet' performed by the Arditti Quartet with André Richard and Air Glaciers over the Swiss Alps in 2015, Heinz Holliger's 'Alpcheer' in 2010 with the original sCHpillit, and 2016’s performance by the Pendulum Choir. Exhibitions have presented the work of world renowned artists such as Valentin Carron and Günther Uecker. Forum Wallis is part of Swissfestivals, of the European Conference of Promoters of New Music ECPNM and, as member of ECPNM, also represented at the European Festivals Association EFA.