Stephanie-Aloysia Moretti Reflects on the History and Future of the Montreux Jazz Festival

BerkleeICE's Creative Entrepreneurs Conversations series saw Stephanie-Aloysia Moretti, artistic director for Montreaux Jazz Festival, talking about the festival's success and strong brand growth. 

February 25, 2016

The Montreux Jazz Festival has grown over its storied history into a worldwide brand synonymous with live music and visual art. The festival's artistic director, Stephanie-Aloysia Moretti, joined Panos Panay as part of BerkleeICE's Creative Entrepreneurs Conversations to discuss the place of the music festival in the streaming era. 

Moretti spoke to a packed David Friend Recital Hall with anecdotes from the very heart of popular music history. From the origins of Deep Purple's "Smoke On The Water" to Miles Davis' still unpublished artwork, Moretti painted the festival's place in music folklore.

The conversation moved to the growth of the Montreaux brand and the festivals long lived success. Moretti responded by focusing on the integrity of the festival and its message as the keystone for the company's longevity. A drive to not only make the festival financially viable but also to celebrate art for its own sake makes Montreaux stand out to music lovers and continues the dialogue between festival and festival goer. Moretti told of a time the audience were treated to a unique performance by Pierre Henri, a founding father of electronic composition, giving a one off rendition of his take on Beethovan's 10th Symphony—a project which cost a large chunk of their operating budget but ultimately went ahead due to the festival's committment to showing great art. 

Panay brought the conversation to the vast archive of performances on both audio and video built up over the years by Montreaux and the recent digitization of the collection. Moretti explained to the audience the festival's committment to preserving the collection for future generations as well as the wish to allow users to interact with the materials in ever more creative ways. Montreaux recently installed two computers in the Berklee library with footage for the public to interact with—just a small example of Montreaux's wish to bring the collection into the public realm in a more meaningful and communal way.

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