Alumni and guests are invited to join the Oxford and Cambridge Club of Zurich JessTalks: Talkshow for New Music. After the resounding success of the events in January/February and March, the final sessions of JessTalks this season will take place on Thursday 23rd May (in English) and on Friday 24th May (in German). The world-class ensemble les trombones de bale conducted by ex-Trinitarian (Cantab) Jessica Horsley, will play works by Mike Svoboda, Gerhard E. Winkler (world premiere) and Johannes Schöllhorn.

Why attend?

JessTalks is dedicated to making new music accessible to a non-specialist audience. With serious content presented in an entertaining way, conductor and moderator Jessica Horsley provides a way-in to new music in conversation with the audience, musicians, composers, and invited guests from the cultural scene. The concerts are co-creations, thus becoming an active experience for all. Bar open.

Jessica Horley, club member, professional musician and conductor, organized, hosted and directed an amazing evening of modern music with a truly outstanding, world-class orchestra: the Basel Chamber Orchestra Basel.

We had the privilege of listening to Jessica’s enthusiastic, insightful and charming explanations of the three pieces of music we experienced, highlighting particular extracts and pointing out peculiar musical techniques. Very impressively, Jessica also invited the three composers of the three pieces presented, who were all present at the

performance: Giorgio Colombo, Junghae Lee and Heidi Baader-Nobs. Even more impressively, we experienced the World Première (!) of a piece by Giorgio Colombo, who was asked to write the piece expressly for the evening; Giorgio traveled up to Basel from Milano to listen to his own creation for the first time. In the break and after this marvelous event, we enjoyed a drink at the bar and the wonderful opportunity to meet in person with the composers and to chat about the musical pieces.