ClubNight #1 – Fred Frith & Werner Bärtschi

Fred Frith, multi-instrumentalist, composer and improviser, has been performing his idiosyncratic music for over 50 years and is best known as a pioneering guitarist and composer for film, dance and theatre. He has collaborated with many leading figures on the scene, such as Sylvie Courvoisier, Meredith Monk, Peter Brötzmann, Joëlle Leandre, Phil Minton, Evelyn Glennie, Brian Eno, John Zorn and many more – not least Werner Bärtschi.
He was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Huddersfield, Yorkshire, in recognition of his life’s work. He taught for 20 years at Mills College in Oakland, USA, and, together with Alfred Zimmerlin, was co-director of the Master’s programme in improvisation at the Basel Academy of Music.

There is a well-known, moving documentary film about Fred Frith entitled ‘Step Across The Border’, which has been described by ‘Cahiers du Cinéma’ as one of the hundred most influential films of the 20th century.
On the evening before the concert, on Thursday, 7 January 2026 at 8.00 pm, it will also be screened at the Garage Wetzikon as a prelude to this unique gathering.
- Rating: highly recommended

Werner Bärtschi, the pianist born in Zurich in 1950, performs works ranging from the late Renaissance to the present day. He has performed significant world premieres (including works by Cage, Klaus Huber, Killmayer, Riley, Schnebel and Vogel).
Concerts on every continent, numerous extensive tours – particularly in Latin America and China – radio recordings, television and film appearances, as well as numerous CDs, bear witness to his successful career as a pianist. In 1980, he founded the ‘Rezital’ concert series in Zurich and is the artistic director of Top Klassik Zürcher Oberland and the Schaffhausen Master Concerts.

Werner Bärtschi draws his creative interpretations not least from his compositional understanding of music. ‘Here, mind, heart and hand come together most happily at the highest artistic level,’ according to the press.

https://www.fredfrith.com/
https://wernerbaertschi.ch/