Opening Night of Piano Off-Stage

Free Admission

Emmet Cohen
(USA)
Chris Conz
(Switzerland)
Luca Filastro
(Italy)
Walter Fischbacher
(Austria)
Béatrice Kahl
(Germany)
Bernd Lhotzky
(Germany)
Jan Luley
(Germany)
Lorenzo Vitolo
(Italy)
Andreas Müller-Crepon  host

You won’t get a touch of the autumn blues in Lucerne! Elsewhere, the season might put you in the doldrums, but late November is a lively, even upbeat time of year here. In addition to the performances by classical stars at the KKL, you can enjoy six evenings of the finest jazz improvisations during the Piano Festival. Eight keyboard artists from the USA, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, and Germany will perform over forty concerts on nine stages. And because they share their art in Lucerne’s loveliest bars, lounges, and restaurants – “off stage,” with free admission – they bring the whole city to life. Old friends like Chris Conz, with his whirling boogie-woogie rhythms, and Bernd Lhotzky, a master of Harlem stride, will be there. We’ve also invited some new faces: Walter Fischbacher from New York, who will play his first solo program; the young Italian Lorenzo Vitolo; and Béatrice Kahl, a virtuosa in groove. The best approach is to start with an overview of all of the performers. You can do so at the grand opening in the KKL, which kicks off the 2019 edition of Off-Stage.