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Jazz For students’ own artistic trajectories! 

Lecturers and students embrace jazz in its full range of styles at the Lucerne School of Music. The focus is on developing and nurturing a personal musical language.  

5 questions for Michael Arbenz, Head of the Institute of Jazz and Folk Music

What is special about jazz at the Lucerne School of Music?

Our institute is the largest in Switzerland, and the lecturers cover a wide range of styles within the jazz and improvised music genre. We are keen to support our students individually in their careers as artists. 

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As a result of this focus and the institute’s size, students are not only able to find lecturers who provide them with specific training, but also fellow students with the same interests. To this end, we offer many opportunities, especially in the Performance Master, to find niches for the students’ talents in the jazz scene and thus give them the best possible start to their professional life.

What are you aiming to convey to your students?

Aside from the fundamentals in terms of musicianship and improvisation, one of our main aims is to get students to develop their own identity as artists. As their degree programme progresses, they are increasingly able to determine the content themselves and thus develop a musical language that’s unique to them.
 

In your opinion, how is the jazz scene developing in Switzerland? 

The jazz scene in Switzerland is evolving rapidly, both stylistically and in terms of the professional fields in which our alumni work. We monitor these developments closely and adapt our course content accordingly. It means we integrate new stylistic trends into the programme and train students in professional fields that are constantly redefining themselves.

What is the difference between jazz and improvisation?

Jazz clearly refers to tradition, but does not confine itself to it. At the start of the programme, students focus on the standard repertoire and attend courses on topics such as jazz history.

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The preoccupation with tradition is designed to provide them with a good foundation for their own self-development. Improvisation is a focal point of the bachelor’s programme, which can be taken in addition to the jazz programme. It covers all the profiles and is therefore also available to classical music students. In this focal point, the students learn general improvisation techniques, various types of notation and advanced playing techniques.

Where can audiences hear your students? 

Our institute’s alumni have been very influential on the Swiss scene for years. Many of them are prize-winners (e.g. of the Swiss Music Prize), and some also work as lecturers here. Our alumni regularly play every venue in Switzerland. We facilitate live playing by our students during their studies and work with numerous promoters, clubs and festivals across the country. We also cross-fertilise with foreign universities and music colleges by hosting each other’s student talent in terms of live performance.

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We facilitate live playing by our students during their studies and work with numerous promoters, clubs and festivals across the country. We also cross-fertilise with foreign universities and music colleges by hosting each other’s student talent in terms of live performance.

Personalities in jazz

Study Jazz

Theory lesson

Pre-College

The Pre-College course provides an excellent grounding in the skills required to pass the entrance examination for the bachelor’s degree programmes offered by the Lucerne School of Music or other music colleges. It applies to classical, jazz and folk music.

Pianist und Saxofonist

Bachelor

Play your own thing: jazz is an attitude and a philosophy. The Institute of Jazz prioritises the nurturing of individuality and personal musical idioms.

Jazzformation

Master

The largest jazz school in Switzerland enjoys strong international links and maintains collaborative relationships with a raft of jazz festivals in Switzerland and other institutions.

Studentin sitzt vor Regal

Study Guide (Only in German)

More information about the degree programs

Central student counselling service

Advancing in the field of jazz

CAS Performance Jazz

The CAS Performance Jazz/Classical enables qualified musicians to hone their instrumental or vocal skills and grow their networks of contacts. 

CAS Music Technology (German only)

The CAS Music Technology imparts the ability to use state-of-the-art media in a targeted manner for musical activities.

Jazz in research

Buch-Cover der Publikation von Christian Broecking: «Dieses unbändige Gefült der Freitheit. Irène Schweizer - Jazz, Avantgarde, Politik»

This Uncontainable Feeling of Freedom. Biography of Irène Schweizer

In 2016 the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts collaborated with publishers Broecking Verlag to issue a comprehensive biography of jazz pianist Irène Schweizer. To mark the artist’s 80th birthday in 2021, the book has been translated into English in cooperation with the Friends of Irène Schweizer association (Verein Freundinnen und Freunde von Irène Schweizer).

Schlagzeuger

Groove research (German only)

Music with a “groove” encourages people to dance. This project explores how bass and drums contribute to the groove effect in Western popular music.

This is what jazz sounds like at the HSLU

Jazz-Musiker*innen auf der Bühne

Latitude – «Eyes to Meet You» (360° Video)

Elia Aregger (g), Meret Siebenhaar (p), Marius Sommer (b), Jérôme Keel (dr)

Das Logo von YouTube.

YouTube Videos

Our videos provide an insight into music education, research or the numerous performances by students, lecturers and alumni. 

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