Caroline has introduced her programme for the 20th and final editon of the Gstaad New Year Music Festival starting on 26 December 2025 and running through to 10 January 2026.

MUSIC BRINGS JOY

“Music brings joy and we also have to present music to people in Gstaad with joy – and all the concerts are organized in this spirit. We have spoken presentations which allow our audiences to know what is going on – and we have concerts with a “proximité inedite” because we have international, star musicians performing in these tiny churches. The musicians themselves are surprised that we have the courage to welcome them in these small salles.”

Last year’s dates but this year’s image

THE STARS IN GSTAAD

“We have stars” Caroline said in French to music media consultant Michele Lariviere on the festival website. “This year, for example, we are going to pay homage to a number of great artists – notably to Placido Domingo.”

“Vraiment il a versé ma vie de musicienne par son talent incroyable, sa musicalité. En plus c’est un très bon musicien; nous avons en meme fait du quatre mains ensemble. Il joue très bien du piano. Donc il y a une hommage à Placido Domingo le 29 décembre,” Caroline told Michele.

PRINCE ALBERT DE MONACO

Then the next evening “as this is the 20th annual edition of the new year festival, we also celebrate the 20th annual patronage of the Prince Albert of Monaco. So we receive the musicians of the Prince; Cecilia Bartoli and Asmik Gregorian, who is absolutely fabulous, on 3 January.

The Great Duo – as Nadine Sierra takes to the stage with Michael Spyres, the Italian tenor and and we have a remarkable American singer Corinne Winters who performs with Xavier Anduaga the young, rising star tenor – il vient de faire une triomphe au Liceu in Barcelona. Vraiment c’est le tenor, le jeune tenor, tous jeune: il a peine 30 ans. Il est quasiment dans les “jeunes talents” qu’on present chaque année, tu vois, presque” Caroline told Michele.

YOUNG TALENTS

“We make the selection for the “young talents” with a great deal of care to truthfully choose those to whom we do not give false hopes but effectively a platform in view of the career which they will evidently achieve in the future.

We will certainly present the winner of the Concours Violin Lysy – that is a permanent and perennial partnership.”

RETIREMENT COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

“And this year we are working with the retirement community – it’s going to be extraordinary and it’s an extremely important project for us which places us among senior citizens who do not necessarily have the opportunity, the possibility or the physical strength needed to come to a concert at 7 o’clock in the evening.

ALONG THE GSTAAD VALLEY

“We try to spread the festival along this quite long Gstaad valley” which runs from the Suisse Romande, French-speaking Canton of Vaud to the Schweizer Dootsch, Germanish-speaking Canton of Bern. “So I thought in terms of the festival programme – and the small church of Lauenen which I adore where we can welcome 200 people. We have the Metaboles choir coming to sing by candlelight. It is an intimate atmosphere “très filtré” which Caroline finds “formidable.”

Caroline herself lives part of the year in a small chalet in the village of Lauenen about 7 kilometers from Gstaad at the end of the valley under the glacier. She has welcomed stars such as Marthe Keller, Edwin Crossley-Mercer, Nathalie Stutzmann, Lisette Oropesa, Rosa Feola, Elina Garanca, Jonathan Tetelman, Lise Davidsen, Maxim Vengerov, Leontina Vaduva, Roberto Alagna and the late violinist Alberto Lysy since she founded the Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad as Artistic Director in 1999 and then the Gstaad New Year Music Festival.

LEARNING TO PERFORM

“For the young musicians” Caroline continued in her interview with Michele, “the Chapelle on the Promenade in Gstaad is not an easy, small hall to play. You see the audience. It is a good place to learn for the concentration, the “metier” or the skill of succeeding in concentrating even when the first row of the audience is less than five meters in front of you. The young musicians all love playing in this little chapel for this reason – it is a good “style” exercise.”

FREE ENTRANCE

“We also have two concerts with complementary entry – on New Year’s Day, on 1 January 2026 we offer to the people of Rougemont and Chateau d’Oex a concert with Marina Viotti who sang for the Olympic Games celebrations in Paris and who is truly a star.

On 6 January we have a chamber music concert with Elisabeth Sombart playing two Mozart concerti.

We try to allow for everyone to come to our concerts; they are also complementary for everyone under the age of 25 years.”

SINATRA, JAZZ AND BROADWAY

“Then we have a hommage to Frank Sinatra with an extraordinary tenor Vittorio Grigolo and jazz concerts too – the Paul Lay Trio return and on 10 January Joachim Horsley returns too – from Hollywood, which will be sympa. We are going to have fun.”

The South African soprano Golda Schultz returns to the festival too – this time to sing a series of songs off Broadway with her pianist Jonathan Ware.

“And up to the final moment we authorize and celebrate improvisation!”

We look forward to seeing you in Gstaad – printed programmes will be in the tourist office and just ask the Festival team for information: Clement, Philippe, Clement & Jane when you see us.

Tickets on the Swiss online agency Ticket Corner.

Princess Caroline Murat, founder and artistic director of the Gstaad New Year Music Festival and the Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad 1999

Under her stage name of Caroline Haffner, artistic director and Gstaad festival founder Caroline Murat brought the 29th annual edition of the Bach Festival in London to a close.

“A Bach journey with excursions to the Preludes of the 19th and 20th centuries” included JS Bach’s first Partita and two Preludes, three of Chopin’s Preludes and one Nocturne, two of Debussy’s Preludes from Book One and Alexander Scriabin’s Prelude et Nocturne for the Left Hand.

In fact, Caroline rearranged the running order, as she explained: “I am a pianist, so I will rearrange things – to make more musical sense.”

The concert was also in a sense rearranged in recognition of the conditions: not only was the National Musicians’ Church in need of serious roof repairs but also the ancient Steinway which first saw light of day in 1895 was in dire straits.

Masterful technique

Alfredo, the Italian piano tuner did a valiant job of critical repair but the bottom D key had gone and he would not risk taking off the board in case the whole piano mechanism collapsed. So Caroline had only 87 of the usually available 88 notes – a bit like asking Eric Clapton to play a 5-string guitar.

Caroline’s masterful technique brought wonderful music – beyond the sound of notes – to her audience’s ears. Scriabin’s Left Hand was visually dramatic too.

Rearrangements

Caroline accepted the concert proposition of the morning to rearrange and play just for an invited audience of three people in the front row: Elizabeth Nash and Peter Popham, former international correspondents for the Independent when it was a printed newspaper and Roger Davies, CEO of RDWM. However, the rest of the 200 people in the church listened closely and applauded enthusiastically.

Caroline next plays in New York on 11.11. and then in Paris before a planned residency in Las Vegas in December 2026.

Copyright image: Jane Mc.Intosh

ps to musicians in their London church expected to play on a 130-year-old Steinway with a D missing that has seen two World Wars and London financial crashes and collapses : take courage.

One of Caroline’s extraordinary skills is to create music out of pianos beyond their time. For this piano, Bach was just about achievable but for Chopin and Debussy, impossible. So young musicians, go stratospheric in your musical ambitions and learning.

The 19th edition of the Gstaad New Year Music Festival began with “Great Arias” sung by soprano Rosa Feola, accompanied by Iain Burnside in the lovely ancient church of Rougemont. The next night the fabulous duo of mezzosoprano Elina Garanca and Jonathan Tetelman took to the stage in Saanen Church before a move up to the village church on the hill in Lauenen with the ensemble Les Arts Florissants led by Paul Agnew celebrating Christmas in wonderful harmony. Soprano Lise Davidsen raised her formidable voice to fill in delicate delight the space up to the rafters in Rougemont church …. we could have all “danced all night” with her ….. the “force of nature” that is South African soprano via Juillard New York and now Munich-based Golda Schultz Greco sang the “Theater of Life” via arias and songs in different languages for which you could hear and understand every word – her German was melodic, her English melodic and supreme in Sondheim’s “Could I leave you” – you could believe every character she presented on stage. The festival is the essence of real artistic direction from a musician who loves music and wants to invite others to perform in her festival –

Photo of Caroline with her son Anthoni – credit for use of edited global rights DAVIDNIVIEREphotography Paris

Recital programmes for 2024 –

More details to follow –

https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/84473620 – Liszt

https://vimeo.com/344746816 – Debussy

American star soprano Lisette Oropesa returned to the Gstaad New Year Music Festival where she made her European recital debut four years ago, this time performing with baritone Ludovic Tezier and pianist Alessandro Pratico at Rougemont Church on Tuesday 2 January 2024. A dramatic and wonderful concert.

https://lisetteoropesa.com

Over 14 days from Wednesday 27 December 2023 to Tuesday 9 January 2024 the 18th edition of the Gstaad New Year Music Festival founded by Princess Caroline Murat (pianist Caroline Haffner) celebrated an eclectic range of musicians and music – tenor Roberto Alagna returned to the festival

to celebrate Puccini while under the festival “Young Talents” banner violinist Brieuc Vorch returned to play a duet with Anaelle Touret on the harp in the St Niklaus chapel on the Gstaad promenade to demonstrate his sublime musical and technical talent.

Photos by the festival photographer Patricia Dietzi are on the official website where you will also find the full program: http://www.gstaadnewyearmusicfestival.com/2023/photos_2023-2024.html

Caroline Haffner, the artist’s name of Princess Caroline Murat, (cvs on this site) continues to play recitals in New York and Europe – this year under the banner of a series “Chopin Encore 2024” – details to follow –

Caroline playing Clair de Lune by Debussy: https://vimeo.com/344746816

The 17th edition of the Gstaad New Year Music Festival began on 26 December 2022 and runs through to Monday 9 January 2023. As Artistic Director and Founder of the festival Caroline brings international stars and young talents to the mountains to present new musical programmes.

Caroline Haffner is continuing her musical programme around Europe – next piano recital in Zagreb, Croatia on Friday 29 October 2021.

As artistic director of the Gstaad New Year Music Festival, Caroline has also completed her program bringing together artists for the 14-day event starting at Rougemont Church on Monday 27 December 2021 with Met star Angel Blue.

The 15th/16th Gstaad New Year Music Festival
A not-for-profit Altezze e Musica festival:
Sous le Haut Patronage de SAS le Prince Souverain Albert II de Monaco
Revised dates: Monday 27 December 2021 – Sunday 9 January 2022
Artistic Director Princess Caroline Murat
https://gstaadnewyearmusicfestival.ch/