Boswil artist house

Artist house

The Künstlerhaus Boswil is a cultural foundation in Boswil in the canton of Aargau that specializes in classical and contemporary music. Its seat is the former rectory of the Roman Catholic parish. The building is located on the eastern edge of the village and, together with the old church and the Odilo Chapel, forms a historical building ensemble , which is owned by the foundation. The Künstlerhaus regularly organizes events with internationally known artists, with the concerts mainly taking place in the old church.

Foundation, endowment

The Künstlerhaus Boswil sees itself as a place of encounter, international cultural exchange and artistic debate. It organizes numerous concerts, including the “Boswiler Summer” festival and the “Master Concerts” cycle. The Künstlerhaus is the sponsor of three music ensembles: the Boswil Ensemble for New Music, the Aargau Youth Symphony Orchestra and the Freiamt Youth Orchestra. In addition, there are international composers' seminars and various musical training opportunities, including master classes .

The main sponsor of the foundation is the canton of Aargau. She receives further financial support from the Swisslos Fund, the municipality of Boswil and the “Pro Boswil” development association. The managing director is the composer Michael Schneider . The neighboring old church is used as a concert hall and offers space for up to 280 people, while the Odilo Chapel is used as a seminar and meeting room. The Künstlerhaus itself includes the cellar theater, a library, a gallery room, several guest rooms and a restaurant. The premises are used regularly for recording sound carriers.

Cultural event

The “Boswiler Summer” classical music festival has been held annually since 2000 (with the exception of 2020: cancellation) with international participation. The festival is hosted by the Künstlerhaus Boswil.

The Künstlerhaus Boswil made headlines with various campaigns. 640 participants played a score by the South African composer Paul Hanmer with cowbells on September 6, 2009 and received an entry in the Guinness Book of Records six months later as the "largest cowbell ensemble in the world" . The Swiss premiere of Karlheinz Stockhausen's helicopter string quartet took place on July 3, 2011 in Boswil .

history

The rectory, built in 1600, was renovated in 1639 and completely rebuilt in 1757 by the carpenter Franz Mäder. In 1890 the Roman Catholic parish in Oberdorf moved into the parish church of St. Pankraz and continued to use the parsonage for a few years. After the opening of a new rectory in 1913, she profaned the entire group of buildings and rented them to the painter Richard Arthur Nüscheler , who finally acquired them in 1918. Nüscheler lived in the former rectory and used the old church as a studio.

In 1953, his heirs sold the building to the "Alte Kirche Boswil Foundation". This foundation, founded by Willy Hans Rösch and Albert Rajsek, wanted on the one hand to save the old church and the former parsonage from demolition, on the other hand to create a home for poor and elderly artists. Benefit appearances by prominent artists created the financial basis for this.

The first artists moved into the renovated rectory in 1960, including the director Kurt Früh and the wood cutter Alfred Bernegger . At the same time, events, courses, symposia, conventions and international composition competitions began to be organized. After the death of the last pensioner in 1991, the foundation changed its statutes and its name to «Stiftung Künstlerhaus Boswil». The institution subsequently transformed into a cultural center in the fields of classical music, jazz, literature, visual arts, dance and theater. Since 2006 the Künstlerhaus has dedicated itself exclusively to music.

Artist

Numerous well-known artists worked in the Künstlerhaus Boswil from the 1950s or performed in the old church. These include:

Géza Anda , pianist (1961) Martha Argerich , pianist (2002, 2011) Wilhelm Backhaus , pianist (1962) Maria Becker , actress (1966) Werner Bergengruen , writer (1954) Peter Bichsel , writer (1999) Hermann Burger , writer (1979) Erika Burkart , writer (since the 1950s) Pau Casals , cellist (1956, 1961) Edisson Denissow , composer (1991) Jörg Demus , pianist (since 1989) Dimitri , clown (since 1971) Pierre Favre , drummer (1985) Giora Feidman , clarinetist (2001, 2005) Max Frisch , writer (1987)

Friedrich Goldmann , composer (1980s) Günter Grass , writer (1966, 1982) George Gruntz , pianist (1982) Hagen Quartet , string quartet (2010) Clara Haskil , pianist (1955) The Hilliard Ensemble , vocal ensemble (2005) Heinz Holliger , oboist (since 1965) Mieczysław Horszowski , pianist (1962) Klaus Huber , composer (since 1966) The King's Singers , a cappella ensemble (2010) Helmut Lachenmann , composer (1967, 1974, 1977) Rolf Liebermann , composer (1985, 1990) Hugo Loetscher , writer (1999) Yehudi Menuhin , violinist (1956, 1973) Sabine Meyer , clarinetist (2012)

Marcel Moyse , flautist (1964–1984) Aurèle Nicolet , flautist (since 1962) Arvo Pärt , composer (1980) Wolfgang Rihm , composer (1970s) Paul Sacher , conductor (1965) Hans Kaspar Schwarz , painter (1966) Dieter Schnebel , composer (1970s) Irène Schweizer , pianist (1990) Maria Stader , soprano (1961) Edmond de Stoutz , conductor (since 1954) Aida Stucki , violinist (1960) Pēteris Vasks , composer (2009) John Williams , guitarist (2010)

building

The former rectory and today's artist's house has three floors with three axes each, under a mansard roof with trapezoidal gable surfaces. The original furnishings were removed during the interior renovation in 1954. A tiled stove remained , probably a work by Michael Leonz Küchler from 1771, which is decorated with blue vedute and rocailles . On the east side there is a sandstone relief that is decorated with the coat of arms of Prince Abbot Fridolin Kopp .

Web links

Commons : Alte Kirche und Künstlerhaus (Boswil)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Website Künstlerhaus Boswil
• Künstlerhaus Boswil in the inventory of the canton of Aargau
• Künstlerhaus Boswil: anniversary publication 1953–2013

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://www.aargauerzeitung.ch/panorama/vermischtes/boswiler-laeuten-sich-mit-kuhglocken-ins-guinness-buch-7781677 . (No longer available online.) Aargauer Zeitung , April 16, 2010, formerly in the original ; Retrieved October 3, 2012 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.    
2. ^ Helicopter string quartet in Boswil. (No longer available online.) Tagesschau (SF) , July 3, 2011, formerly in the original ; Retrieved October 3, 2012 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.    
3. ^ Georg Germann: The art monuments of the Canton of Aargau . Ed .: Society for Swiss Art History . Volume V, Muri District. Birkhäuser, Basel 1967, p. 99, 108 .
4. ↑ ^{a b} From the parish church to the cultural center. Künstlerhaus Boswil, accessed on October 2, 2012 . 
5. ^ Boswil Hall of Fame. (No longer available online.) Künstlerhaus Boswil, archived from the original on August 1, 2012 ; accessed on October 2, 2012 (drop-down section at the bottom of the page). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
6. ^ Germann: The art monuments of the canton of Aargau. P. 108.

Coordinates: 47 ° 18 ′ 11.7 "  N , 8 ° 19 ′ 14"  E ; CH1903:  666,696  /  239526