From the beginning and the end

Paul Juon (1872-1940): Theme with Variations for Orchestra
It begins with a small booklet of 83 pages: "Theme with Variations" is probably Juon's earliest composition for orchestra. The work does not have an opus number, unfortunately it is not known when it was written and it is not mentioned in the composer's personal catalogue raisonné. In contrast to those of the later compositions, the title of this score is still written in Russian script: TeMa c sap111au,111.i1MIii Afül opKeCTpa C04. Nas. IOoH, the movement names and the instruments are notated in Italian. The work marks the auspicious beginning of Juon's lifelong exploration of the symphonic form.

Reinhold Gliere (1874-1956): Concerto for Harp and Orchestra, op. 74 (1938)
In Gliere's sumptuous Harp Concerto of 1938, a nostalgically transfigured longing is palpable, which, in the midst of cruel wartime, defiantly evokes an ideal world of yesterday, blooming, peaceful and melodious. The beginning and the end can be found in an aesthetic exclamation mark that has fallen out of time: the beginning of a new epoch, musically, politically and socially, contrasted with the artistic evocation of an age that is radically coming to an end.

Franz Schubert (1797-1828): Symphony in B minor, D. 759 (1822)
Schubert's Unfinished: This is mystery, fascination and historical tabloid material - and ultimately the music-philosophical question of the definition of the beginning and end of a work. Hardly any other piece in the history of music has fuelled such escalating interpretations and discussions about form, content and aesthetic perfection as the two-movement fragment from 1822. Perhaps Hugo Wolf's simple observation will suffice: "Schubert lived only half a lifetime, both as a human being and as an artist. His life was just enough to write two symphony movements that were perfect in content and form."

Joanna Thalmann (harp)
She began her musical career at the age of seven. Various master classes are part of her annual program and she has already been able to enjoy lessons with Isabelle Perrin, Alice Giles, Fabrice Pierre, Park Stickney, Susann McDonald and others. She has already won several national and international prizes, such as two first prizes at the concours français de la harpe in Limoges, France and took part in the International Harp competition USA 2016. In addition, she is a prizewinner of the Meggen Foundation for Young Music Talents, the Marianne and Curt Dienemann Foundation Lucerne, the international music competition, Grand prize virtuouso London 2016 and received the Migros Culture Percentage Study Prize twice in a row in 2017 and 2018.
Numerous orchestral engagements, private appearances and recitals at festivals in Germany and abroad have shaped her musical career. After completing her bachelor's degree in 2016 at the Lucerne University of Music with Anne Bassand and Xenia Schindler, she completed her master's degree in music education at the Zurich University of the Arts with Sarah O'Brien in 2018. In addition, she completed a one-year orchestral internship with the Bern Symphony Orchestra at the same time as her studies in Zurich and gave harp lessons at the Schwyz Music School for several years. In 2021 she graduated in the Master's degree in Music Performance at the Oslo University of Music in Norway with Isabelle Perrin and played with the Oslo Symphony Orchestra as part of a two-year internship.
At the music school Konservatorium MKZ Zurich and at the Kantonsschule Stadelhofen ZH, she now gives lessons in Celtic harp, concert harp and electric harp at all ages. She also plays harp/marimba in the chamber music duo Wooden Waves with percussionist Gilberto Lo Surdo and is a member of various orchestras such as the Oslo Symphony Orchestra, Bern Symphony Orchestra, St.Gallen Symphony Orchestra, Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Zurich Opera and Refugiumkeller in Zurich.