"Silvia combines, in a particularly formative way, intuition and natural musicality with a will for knowledge and questions that go beyond pure music making. She will go her very own way well, very well" Professor Matthias Weilenmann
ABOUT
Being educated as a recorder player in early and contemporary music, Silvia Berchtold's will for expression and her interests towards other art fields and different styles of music led her to becoming an active performer in several fields. In addition to performing in classical concert formats, she also stages crossover and interdisciplinary art projects, often as an initiator and creator. Currently she is expanding into the field of music theatre. In her unconditional quest for a very individual musical language, she creatively - sometimes more rebelliously, sometimes more empathetically - challenges the established tenets of recorder conventions; in the words of The Recorder Magazine (2017):
“ It appeared the possibilities were unlimited, with musical decisions based on how she wanted to express a phrase, rather than accepting perceived recorder limitations.”
Over the past years, Silvia has been mainly involved in reflecting on concert formats that address questions in the field of environmental and animal ethics. The outspring of this search is, amongst others, the music theatre Di(v)e and the creation of the Interspecies Ensemble. At the moment Silvia works on a continuation of Di(v)e thanks to a scholarship of Musikfonds. “Clouds” will be premiered in theatre Pathos in Munich in February 2024. In context with ecological topics, she is part of the music theatre production “Leise Laute” at Schauburg München for the season 2023/2024.
Silvia offers a solo programme entitled “Big time minimal!” and online-lessons via the platform couponconcerts that sprang from the Corona crisis. Coupons for the concert can be purchased here, coupons for online/live lessons here.
She has performed as soloist and chamber music member in many venues and festivals, such as Resonanzen Festival Vienna Konzerthaus, Kaunas Philharmony, Musikfestspiele Potsdam, Alte Musikfestival Zürich, Early Music Festival London, Festival Mars En Baroque in Marseille and musiquem Lleida, In addition, she has launched interdisciplinary projects for the "Lange Nacht der Kunst" in Landsberg and initiated her regular offer of "Musical Meditation" in Zürich. Further information about some projects can be found within Projekt Galerie.
BIOGRAPHY
Silvia grew up in Landsberg am Lech, Germany, where her longterm recorder teacher Susanna Ricchio opened her the way for a creative approach to music making. From 2010-2015 she studied at the ZHdK Zürich with professor Matthias Weilenmann, completing her master in music pedagogy “Mit Auszeichnung”. At the same time she got additional qualifications in music therapy at the Bayerische Musikakademie Marktoberdorf. From 2018 to 2020/21 she continued her studies, focussing on Early Music at the CNSMD Lyon with professor Pierre Hamon (Master Performance) and on Contemporary Music at the HfM Nürnberg with professor Jeremias Schwarzer (Master Contemporary Music), which she equally completed “Mit Auszeichnung”. Masterclasses with Maurice Steger, Dorothee Oberlinger, Han Tol and others were complementing her musical education. In 2018 she took part in an artist in residence program in India, to learn more about classical Indian music.
Silvia won several prizes with the recorder, In 2023 her ensemble Tra Noi was awarded “Wiener Konzerthauspreis” at the internatoonal H.I.F. Biber competitionand the audience award in Biagio Marini competition. 2022 she was finalist in the international Schmelzer competition Melk as a soloist. As well as soloist she got the first prize at the renowned international recorder competition MOECK/SRP 2017 in London, and 2nd prizes in 2015 and 2014 at the international Solo-recorder competition Nordhorn. In her teens, she won several first prizes at the German youth competition „Jugend musiziert“. She was scholarship holder of the Hirschmann Stiftung, the Deutschlandstipendium, Bourse Mécénat Musical Société Générale, Adami France, Musikfonds and Orchesterstiftung. Twice she won the prize to promoting young talents of her hometown. From 2021-2022 she was supported by the program Inszene (Deutscher Musikrat) for contemporary music.
In addition to her freelance musical activity she widens her perspectives on music, studying the Philosophicum at the University of Philosophy (HfPh), Munich.