Contemporary Leader Winnie Huang

What is your approach to new music?

New music is about making contact through curiosity and sensitivity. Through exploring different boundaries of our sonic world in unexpected contexts and new formats, we create the shared experience of appreciating our world differently.

Can you tell us what new music means to you in one word?

Generosity.

What is your connection to Lucerne Festival?

As a violinist, I have participated in the Academy and in Alumni projects with young audiences in mind. As a gestural artist, I performed the solo dancer part of Stockhausen’s INORI with the Academy orchestra in 2018 in Lucerne and on tour.

What especially appeals to you about Lucerne Festival Forward?

The Forward Festival is a driven and optimistic project based on trust and appreciation. Through trusting and appreciating the network of the past Lucerne Festival Academy students and their own specialties in their fields, together we are trying to create a new experience based in the town of Lucerne, which holds such an important place in all our hearts.

How do you feel about the co-curation process?

Though I have been part of many co-curation processes, it has never been so large a group of such diverse individuals within the world of contemporary musical performance. It is a privilege to interact with these incredible artists, and though it is never easy to negotiate a common vision, I believe we have navigated it very smoothly. It has been an incredibly rewarding experience for me, and I know we will create a beautiful program.

What can viewers expect from their participation in the webinars on 23 and 30 July 2021?

The Webinars in July will present the background and vision for the Forward Festival. We will speak with different members of the curatorial team and examine why we are choosing to explore certain specific themes in the inaugural festival. It is an opportunity for the public to ask questions directly and to create an ongoing communication with the audience as we move forward towards November 2021.