In her creative work, the Swiss composer Daniela Achermann moves within a dialogue between transparent structures and fluid sonic colours. Her work combines a powerful intensity with a search for connection, silence, and space. Her scores are designs for acoustic sanctuaries – sustained by a profound closeness to nature and the exploration of its living form.
for piano, accordion, and percussion (2015)
Ensemble SARGO
2015, Neubad Lucerne
for ensemble (2024)
Ensemble Montaigne, Andreas Brenner, conductor
2024, Pauluskirche Basel
for chamber orchestra (2015)
inTakt Youth Chamber Orchestra, Andreas Brenner, conductor
2015, Matthäuskirche Lucerne
for orchestra (2018)
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Philippe Béran, conductor
2018, Victoria Hall, Geneva; recording with Radio Espace 2
from «Dreizehn Szenen nach Tiergedichten von Franz Hohler»
for organ (2019)
Daniela Achermann, organ
2025, Sursee City Church
Soprano 1 and 2, Alto, Tenor 1–3, Baritone, Bass, French natural horn 1 and 2
Instrumentation: Fl, Ob, Cl, Hrn, Fg, Vln I, Vln II, Vla, Vcl, Db
Commissioned by IGNM Zentralschweiz (for the programme "A Watery Star")
Premiere: 01.11.2024, Pauluskirche Basel (Ensemble Montaigne, conducted by Andreas Brenner)
Premiere: 22.08.2018, Victoria Hall, Geneva (Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, conducted by Philippe Béran)
Recorded by Radio Espace 2
Premiere: 30.10.2015, Matthäuskirche Lucerne (Junges Kammerorchester inTakt, conducted by Andreas Brenner)
Scene for five vocal parts, flute, clarinet, violin, cello, and piano
Libretto: Pius Strassmann
Commissioned as part of the «Odyssee» project, a collaboration between the Lucerne Theater and the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts – Music
April 18, 2013: Premiere at the Lucerne Theater, conducted by Michael Wendeberg
Awarded the Harald Genzmer Composition Competition Prize, Munich
Movements: I (frequenzen) – II (farben) – III (windspiel)
Premiere: 24.10.2020, Muri Abbey Church (50th Anniversary of the Great Organ Restoration, Johannes Strobl & Daniela Achermann, organs)
Commissioned by musica aperta Winterthur (Pro Helvetia New Talent Promotion)
Premiere: 31.03.2017, Landgasthof Riehen (Egidius Streiff, violin – Luiz Guilherme Pozzi, piano – Segantini Quartett)
Recorded at Radiostudio Zürich
I (Elévation)
II silence
III (Horloge)
IV (Elévation)
World premiere as part of the opening concert of the new concert series «Klangraum Sursee»
September 18, 2016, at the Sursee Abbey Church, Ensemble SARGO, dance and choreography: Gaby Mahler
Premiere: 27.06.2015, Neubad Lucerne (New Music Days, Ensemble SARGO)
Song project with staging and puppetry
Premiere: 01.02.2014, Südpol Lucerne (Szenenwechsel Music Festival, Pamela Berzé, soprano – Eva Vorobjova, piano)
Workshop and performance with the Ensemble Schwerpunkt at HSLU-Musik
October 25, 2013, in the atrium of the Lucerne Government Building, Ensemble Schwerpunkt
Commissioned by Christoph Blum
Performance: 19.03.2021, Bern Conservatory (Swiss Youth Music Competition SJMW, Jieming Deng, organ)
Published in «Die innovative Orgelschule», Vol. 4, by Dr. Andrea Kumpe
Commissioned by the association «Kinder an die Orgel» and the Basel Music Academy/HSLU FHNW
Premiere: 06.09.2020, Casino Basel (Basel Organ Festival, organ classes of Yun Zaunmayr and Nicoleta Paraschivescu)
Premiere: 14.05.2017, Schenkon Chapel («Barock und Jodel» by Klangraum Sursee, Nuria Richner, soprano/yodel – Stefan Wieland, countertenor/yodel – Daniela Achermann, organ)
Premiere: 19.11.2016, City Church of Sursee («Weltenwandel» project, Daniela Achermann, organ)
Performance: 19.06.2014, Lukaskirche Lucerne (Master's recital in Organ Performance, Daniela Achermann, organ)
Various standalone piano pieces
Performed as part of the DAS Church Music graduation recital
June 2011 at the Jesuit Church in Lucerne, Daniela Achermann, organ
Performed as part of the concert «New Music for a New Library»
April 21, 2010, in the Small Hall of the Basel Music Academy, Daniela Achermann, piano
Arranged for harp and string quartet (2022)
Arranged for saxophone quartet (SATB) (2021)
Arranged for mezzo-soprano and string orchestra (2014)
Premiere: 04.05.2014, Meggen Community Hall
Annual Concert of the Foundation for Young Musical Talents, Stephanie Szanto, mezzo-soprano – Lucerne Chamber Orchestra
Score incorporated into the library collection of the HSLU School of Music
Premiere: 04.05.2014, Meggen Community Hall
Annual Concert of the Foundation for Young Musical Talents, Stephanie Szanto, mezzo-soprano – Lucerne Chamber Orchestra
Score incorporated into the library collection of the HSLU School of Music
Nicoleta Paraschivescu, organ
Daniela Achermann, chest organ
Aliza Vicente, violin
Rahel Wittling, violin
Lukas Hamberger, viola
Johannes Kofler, cello
Dina Kehl, violone/viola da gamba
Stephanie Schacht, traverso
Olga Marulanda, oboe
Martin Roos, horn
Patrik Gasser, horn
Thomas Ragossnig, harpsichord
Daniela Achermann, harpsichord
Jolanda Steiner, storyteller
Maria Rösti, flute
Daniela Maranta, organ
Andreas Wüest, organ
Daniela Achermann, organ
Daniela Achermann is a Swiss composer, organist, and pianist. Raised in New Zealand and trained in Basel, Lucerne, and San Rafael (USA), her creative work is grounded in a multi-faceted musical background.
Following diplomas in piano and organ, Daniela Achermann studied composition with Dieter Ammann. She received further inspiration through composition courses with Wolfgang Rihm and Isabel Mundry, as well as through her studies in musicology at the University of Basel.
She was also shaped by her long-standing dedication to classical North Indian music under Ali Akbar Khan and Ken Zuckerman at the Ali Akbar College of Music, where she also taught sarod. In recent years, she has increasingly dedicated herself to early music on the harpsichord.
Her works have been performed by ensembles such as the Theater Luzern, the Lucerne Chamber Orchestra, and the Ensemble Montaigne. In 2018, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande recorded her orchestral piece Ride. She won the Alois Koch Prize (2013) and was awarded first prize at the Harald Genzmer Composition Competition in Munich in 2020.
Currently, Daniela Achermann is the principal organist at the Stadtkirche St. Georg in Sursee, director of the concert series «Klangraum Sursee», and initiator and co-founder of the «Orgelschule Sursee».
Daniela Achermann
Mail
Sursee, Switzerland
Legal Notice & Privacy Policy
Daniela Achermann
Carl-Beck-Strasse 4B
6210 Sursee
Daniela Achermann
Carl-Beck-Strasse 4B
6210 Sursee
info@daniela-achermann.com
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