A MESSAGE from Juliane Banse, Vice President of the Friends of Teatro del Lago e.V. – Amigos Europa, singer and professor of vocal studies

Dear Friends of Teatro del Lago,

Congratulations to Chile as the champion of Latin American vaccination drives; it seems the first emerging nation to reach herd immunity, without scandals such as those plaguing the neighbouring countries Brazil, Peru and Argentina, and the campaign is well-organized and has sufficient vaccines. This gives us hope that soon we will be able to return to live teaching and live concerts. In this spirit, I wish all of us lots of optimism, energy and creativity, and I look forward to contributing what I can to success!

Ever since I learned of the project, and especially since visiting the theatre in this magical place late in 2009, when the building was still unfinished, I have been fascinated by it! This felicitous meeting of pure, unspoiled nature, art at the highest level, ingenious architecture, and all this in the spirit and service of the region and cultural education, has my utmost respect! From my own experience I know how difficult, but also how meaningful and valuable it is to bring such a utopia to life in a structurally weak region – in this sense Frutillar resembles our own festival in Portugal, www.marvaomusic.com, and the Academy of Music, Art and Science we founded there (www.marvaoacademy.com). To see how much this contributes to the blossoming and development of local people inspires joy and hope! It makes any effort and strain worthwhile.

Especially now and during the time ahead, we will all need the healing and unifying power of the arts with particular urgency, and it is once again becoming clear how essentially important musical and artistic education is during childhood, so that people recognize and defend the value and preciousness of the arts as a “food for life”! Teatro del Lago has been demonstrating the fruits of these labours for many years in the most impressive of manners, and it is a great model for us!

Few artists of her generation are as successful in so many spheres and with such varied repertoire as Juliane Banse. She made her stage debut as a twenty-year-old in the role of Pamina in Harry Kupfer’s production of The Magic Flute at the Komische Oper Berlin. Juliane Banse was born in southern Germany and grew up in Zurich; she studied with Paul Steiner and with Ruth Rohner at the Zurich Opera House, completing her studies under Brigitte Fassbaender and Daphne Evangelatos in Munich. She is a professor at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg, gives master courses internationally and participates in juries of international competitions. Juliane Banse is at home at the world’s great opera houses (e.g. the Vienna and Berlin State Operas, Zurich Opera, Lyric Opera Chicago and Metropolitan Opera in New York) and has worked with renowned conductors (e.g. Lorin Maazel, Riccardo Chailly, Bernard Haitink, Franz Welser-Möst, Mariss Jansons, Zubin Mehta and Manfred Honeck). Recitals have recently taken her to the Schubertiade in Vilabertran, to Oxford, the song week at Schloss Elmau and Berlin’s Pierre Boulez Saal. Many of her recordings have won awards, two of them receiving an Echo Classic Award: Braunfels’ Jeanne d’Arc with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Manfred Honeck (world premiere recording of the year) and Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich under David Zinman.