Ascona (CH), JazzAscona 🧡

Lia Pale
26. Juni
5 Min. Lesezeit

Aktualisiert: 5. Okt.

June 26th–July 5th

I know it’s taken me quite some time to write this one. Sometimes, when something has such an impact on me—feels so meaningful and special—I want to do it extra right, extra beautifully, to do it justice. I want to capture it properly, but then I don’t know how to start or how to honour it in words.

But it’s time I tried.

Let me simply start by saying how much I fell in love with this festival 🧡—the energy it creates, filling the streets and every corner of the city with music. It’s vibrant, colourful, and full of joy and warmth. It touched my heart. The openness and presence of Lago Maggiore, with its deep waters resonating with every sound, create space for connection, community, and magic (quite literally, as I discovered one night—but we’ll get to that).

The whole festival takes place in and around Ascona, a beautiful town right by the waters of Lago Maggiore in the Swiss part of Switzerland.

We left Vienna on June 27th really, really early in the morning and arrived around noon in Milan, where we were picked up by one of the many incredible festival crew members. About an hour later, we arrived in Ascona—at our meeting point. The meeting point was downtown, next to a beautiful old church. We got our schedules, info, festival passes, T-shirts—everything we could possibly need. Some of us stayed in a hotel downtown, while mathias, Ingrid, and I were taken up the mountain (passing Monte Verità) to Casa Berno… oh, Casa Berno! With a view that still takes my breath away—and that I still have as my phone screensaver, meaning I look at it about a hundred times a day.

We were scheduled to play our European Song Book at 19:30 that night on Stage Seven. After a quick bite to eat (where we ran into the marvellous Claus Raible Trio—Milos Colovic and Xaver Hellmeier—who were also playing two nights!), we headed for our soundcheck.

After our sweaty soundcheck in the summer sun, we were ready for our set. Stage Seven was located above the water, facing the city—just incredible. The energy, the lake, the people—it was one of those concerts that truly moved me, that shifted something inside of me. I felt so alive. I loved every second. Playing together filled me with joy and gratitude for being exactly where I am, right here, right now.

I remember asking the audience how to say “thank you, dear Universe” in Italian—I know now: Grazie all’Universo! Ingrid, Hans, Stano, mathias, and I - we all felt it—the magic of JazzAscona.

After our set, we strolled around town, had a beer or two while gazing at the lake and chatting. We found out that the Claus Raible Trio was about to play, located their venue on our Jazz Ascona map, and caught the whole second half of their set—incredible! I just love what they’re doing. If you ever get the chance, go see them live!

We hung out, had some ice cream and another drink or two before taking the shuttle back up the hill to Casa Berno.

That night, I slowed down, sat on the balcony, lit a candle, and watched the city lights and the stars. I listened to the silence—the calm that water brings—and to the sounds of the night whispering “thank you” before I crawled into bed.

The next day: breakfast with a view. We were scheduled to play in the evening around eight at Eden Roc, so we had quite some time in the afternoon. There was also an interview scheduled, and Mathias and I didn’t realize it was a video—we were running late, too! But we met Cory, who had the coolest questions prepared, ones that really got us thinking and talking. (I’ll share the link below.)

Later, I went down with the shuttle, and again I want to say how kind and helpful every single person on the festival crew was—so many helping hands, picking me up, dropping me off, answering questions, guiding the way. I spent the afternoon by the lake—swimming, resting in the shade, gazing at the water.

Then back up again to get ready. We played outside on the terrace of a beautiful restaurant, once more sharing our favourite Lieder by Schubert, Schumann, and Brahms, mixed with one or two originals from mathias’ Blue Piano. I never drink on stage, but being in a restaurant, I felt like having a glass of champagne while talking about the songs, the night, the food—it was fun!

Now that I’m writing, I realize how wild it was that mathias was even able to play. If you remember, his fall was just a week before, and he barely had time to recover—stitches still fresh above his eye where his head had hit the ground. But he did it, and we had a great time playing again. Afterwards, it was dinnertime, and I almost got lost with Stano in the fish maze on our way to the other part of the hotel. Later, we met up with the Raible Trio again, talked, and strolled through town, enjoying the warm summer night—the sounds of clarinet and piano, someone singing, the moon and stars listening, shining their light over the water.

Back at the hotel, I did the same as the night before—lit a candle, sat on the balcony, and listened to the night whispering “thank you” to the stars, the moon, the waters.

Hans, Stano, and Ingrid left the next day—back home. Thank you so much for being a part of this. Thank you for the music!

mathias and I stayed a couple more days to have more time for everything ✨. A close friend, Sibylla, joined us, and we had time to discover the island ‚Isole di Brissago‘ and what once was Monte Verità. We had wonderful dinners, listened to great music—I almost fainted after dancing the Shim Sham in the summer sun for too long—and then -- I met Enzo.

Enzo, the magician I’ll never forget. As you might know, I do believe in magic—but once you experience Enzo’s cards and his sorcery, you see things you can’t explain and you’ll never be the same. I saw writing jump from one card to another right in front of my eyes. I still have the Ten of Hearts on my piano, reminding me that magic is real. Thank you, Enzo.

And now, here it comes: thank-you to Nolan—the heart and mastermind of this festival 🧡.

It’s crazy, but I actually met Nolan a couple of years ago in Munich, of all places, when I played a double concert with Julian Prégardien. At the time, we didn’t get to talk, and I thought he didn’t like what we did. Oh, the projections we tie to our own insecurities—it’s wild. Anyway, that’s where we first met, and this year we played Schubert's Winter’s Journey in Muri with Nolan on trumpet.

Dear Nolan, from all of us—the most heartfelt thank you for giving us the chance to be part of Jazz Ascona, for your kindness, your love of music, and for creating spaces where it can breathe and fly. Thank you for these magical days. You and your whole team are an immense inspiration to me, and it was such a joy and honour to be part of it all.

I still feel it—what’s possible when humans come together to play, to share, to create a sense of belonging through community. That’s when magic happens.

I’ll carry it in my heart.

Thank you—grazie all’Universo!

Yours,

Lia

Some of the bands I loooved:

Frog & Henry

The Rag Messengers

The Jungle Jazz Band feat. Nicole Rochelle

Claus Raible Trio

JazzAscona Interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9St8kLvejE0