Ladies and Gentlemen,

We sincerely hope that our message finds you and your loved ones in good shape. In the current health situation, projecting oneself requires even more confidence and faith in the future than usual. In any case, building an artistic season is a challenge. Today, it requires an extra dose of courage.

Our aim is to create the conditions that invite everyone to enter a concert hall to listen t0 classical – in the broadest sense – music, by offering incentive prices, by integrating people in difficulty who face a feeling of exclusion, with a view to facilitating their social reintegration, by collaborating with schools, by calling up the music by AC/DC and John Williams, thus opening up the repertoire, by offering extra motivation to young people in training, by encouraging transmission between generations and by opening up to dialogue and the freedom to heal through an interdisciplinary show.

Our season 2020/21 will open on November 20th with a recital by the young pianist Alexandra Dovgan, 13 years old, whom I went to listen to last summer in a small church in a small village north of Verona. Twice “small” for a double event! I can assure you that I came out of that concert mesmerized, animated by the big question about talent and acquiring through work and study. Of course, the young Russian pianist possesses the first one and devotes herself fervently to developing it, to cultivating it. The next day the great, the very great Grigory Sokolov performed in this unlikely place! The tone is set, the maestro is full of praise for Alexandra Dovgan, who is already playing in the greatest halls, under the baton of conductors of the dimension of Gergiev! Maestro Sokolov is in a way Alexandra’s artistic godfather. He will be in recital on June 3, 2021 at the end of the season! Consequently that transmission between generations, so dear to TPLM and so badly damaged today, is at the heart of the artistic program.

Opening and closing, the two poles worthy of a season that promises to revive beautiful emotions. You’ll see that it’s all about Amazons by the baroque excellence of the moment, cello piccolo and the new sound experience that goes with it and a Saxophone Quartet presented as a reincarnation of the Beatles! They’re young, they’re beautiful, they the ones, witn an indomitable muti-percussionist, who will perform “Starry Night”, an innovative program including, in the midst of contemporary works, music by AC/DC and John Williams, author of the film scores of Steven Spielberg’s and George Lucas’ greatest hits.

The socio-therapeutic dimension of music, also dear to TPLM, will be expressed through a double collaboration with the Centre Neuchâtelois de Psychiatrie (CNP) and The Perce-Neige Foundation, in the form of two pre-concerts. A double opportunity for TPLM to contribute to the reintegration and the social valorization of the participants, who never imagine performing on the stage of the Salle de musique in La Chaux-de-Fonds!

Based in particular on our positive experiences of 30 January and 15 and 16 February, the field of training proposes renewed collaborations with the Collège musical de la Ville de La Chaux-de-Fonds (pre-concert) and the Conservatoire de musique neuchâtelois (CMNE, pre-concert and public masterclass).

Interdisciplinarity is embodied by Dori, which also embraces the socio-therapeutic dimension, on tour from April 30 to May 28, 2021. Dori is a character created and performed by Mélanie Pauli, with the support of the Toulouse-based Cirque des Petites Natures company. Mélanie, a circus artist from La Chaux-de-Fonds, trained notably at the Ecole du Lido in Toulouse, should have performed with the Duo Jumel on June 5, 2020. Dori is a show about children’s rights.

Subscriptions for 2020/21 season are on sale at the promotional price of CHF 70, CHF 110 and CHF 150 until 31 October! It is also possible to order your tickets (payment at a later date) for all the concerts mentioned on the corresponding form.

In case of total cancellation of the season due to a prolongation of the coronavirus crisis, your subscriptions will be fully refunded. In case of partial cancellation, solutions will be proposed on the basis of those adopted for the 2019/20 season. In case of cancellation of a particular concert, tickets will be fully refunded. Out of respect for our audience and for the artists, we undertake to do our utmost to avoid resorting to outright cancellation and to ensure that everyone can attend the concerts of their choice in the best possible conditions.

We wish to believe that the current crisis is developing favourably, and we send you, Ladies an Gentlemen, our warmest greetings.

Take care of yourselves!

Frédéric Eggimann,
President

Photographic credits:

Frédéric Eggimann © David Marchon