Once again, this year’s call for projects for a «Get Going!» grant generated a termendous response. Over 250 dossiers from all parts of the country and all genres were submitted and presented to our expert jury. After reviewing all the dossiers, the jury decided to support the following musicians for their artistic visions with a «Get Going!» grant of CHF 25,000.- each.
Congratulations to the eight beneficiaries!

SAMI GALBI

Musician, singer and producer Sami Galbi, who was born in Lausanne, is no stranger to the Swiss scene: he started off as a singer, composer and bassist of the band El Mizan, before increasingly becoming a solo artist – including a highly acclaimed performance at the Paléo Festival in Nyon and winning M4Music’s Demo Tape Clinic. During a residency in Morocco made possible by Pro Helvetia, his project “Sami Galbi” took on concrete forms. Grar intends to leverage this to translate the music of his childhood – traditional Raï – into the sonic present of the 21st century with the help of analogue machines and his guitar. The «Get Going!» grant will enable him to develop the project in 2025. Geneva-based label Bongo Joe Records is set to release his first album this spring. At the same time, Sami Galbi will continue to advance his sonic visions with a trio on a concert tour.
instagram.com/sami.galbi

ELIE ZOÉ

elie zoé (formerly Emilie Zoé) composes, plays and experiments in the creative environment of Humus Records, the genre-redefining label of musician Louis Jucker. Zoé is working with him to set up a studio. In addition to uncompromisingly developing their own sound, zoé and Jucker are concerned not only with adapting their performances to the current environmental challenges, but also with consciously connecting people through music. Their project “Studio, Chorale et Slow Tours” pursues this objective on three levels: exploring new creative possibilities in their own studio. Launching an ecological “slow tour” featuring extended stays of several days at various venues, the aim being to build a deeper relationship with audiences. In addition to these aspects, the “Get Going!” grant also enables the duo to rehearse and perform new compositions in these locations together with local choirs.
www.eliezoe.com

SILVIO BUCHMEIER

Silvio Buchmeier is a composer and music technologist who lives and works in Los Angeles and Zurich. With his expertise in orchestration, he has made a significant contribution to numerous Hollywood productions and played a key role in video game projects such as Dead Space and The Flash. Buchmeier is known in Switzerland for his composition of the main theme of Radio SRF Virus and his sonic contribution to the immersive exhibition “Viva Frida Kahlo”. As a technologist, Buchmeier is interested in the opportunities offered by artificial intelligence. He wants to use AI to augment traditional acoustic and electronic instruments with AI-driven models. The “Get Going!” grant enables Buchmeier to deepen his collaboration with researchers and develop an AI model – with potential applications in film music as well as live performances.
www.silvio-buchmeier.ch

BABY VOLCANO

Lorena Stadelmann’s stage persona is Baby Volcano. She skilfully combines her mix of electro, pop and experimental sounds with theatrical influences. 2021 saw her present her first work: the EP Sindrome Premenstrual. The Jura native studied drama, dance and performance in Buenos Aires and now works creatively with artists such as Jonathan Nido and Loris Vettese within the Humus Records ecosystem. Amongst other things, this spawned her second work Jardin Jerricane at the Théâtre du Jura in 2022.The “Get Going!” grant enables Stadelmann to go a step further in the implementation of her interdisciplinary performance. In addition to honing her music production skills, the project also includes researching new media presence strategies. This will also allow Stadelmann to assemble a team of costume and set designers and choreographers for her future work.
instagram.com/babyvolcano

NNAVY

NNAVY has enjoyed national and international success in recent years with her blend of R’n’B, soul and jazz as well as her distinctive voice. Inspiring performances such as at the Montreux Jazz Festival and Jazz à Vienne are a testament to this. Her four EPs have also been streamed over 20 million times on Spotify. Now NNAVY wants to expand her creative universe by exploring new musical and visual approaches. The aim is to further develop her artistic identity through collaborations with producers, songwriters and visual artists. The idea is for travel to bring in international influences and enrich her work.The «Get Going!» grant is intended to support this organic development of her personal language. NNAVY sees great creative potential through collaborations with others whose visions and techniques differ from hers.
nnavymusic.com

MATTHIAS LINCKE

Matthias Lincke is a violinist, singer, guitarist and composer/lyricist. Since the end of the 1990s, he has immersed himself in folk music in general and focussed on the violin in particular. In projects and ensembles such as the Trio Tobler-Lincke-Tanner, Sternmotor, Echo, and the folk music/cabaret ensemble Doppelbock, Lincke has been keen to experiment with folk music, thus enriching his view of traditional music with refreshing perspectives. The “Get Going!” grant is helping the Zurich native realise his current project, “Feldwerk”. This finds him investigating on the one hand the disintegration of the Alps through the impact of climate change, and on the other the different perspectives of people between the contrasting poles of homeland and globalisation. Together with the musicians involved, Lincke responds with an approach that both celebrates Alpine culture and sets its fragility, transience and strangeness to music with newly explored sounds.
matthiaslincke.ch

NATHALIE FROEHLICH

Nathalie Froehlich is now known far beyond Switzerland’s borders. With her unmistakable style of reggaeton, baile funk, experimental music and techno, the rapper transforms her performances into statements that go beyond the music. Nathalie Froehlich also sees her art as a means of establishing a clear social stance – whether on large festival stages or in alternative venues such as squatted buildings. Now the Lausanne native, who started off finding jazz and later improvisation via the classical piano, wants to combine her musical vision even more closely with her social and political engagement. The «Get Going!» grant allows Nathalie Froehlich to invest more time in developing a coherent artistic identity by delegating tasks such as administration and organisation to professionals and thus building a supporting team that will further her vision.
instagram.com/nathalie_froehlich

MARCO VON ORELLI

Basel-based composer and trumpeter Marco von Orelli has been a fixture on the Swiss jazz scene for years. In his artistic work, he operates between the poles of improvisation and composition. Numerous recordings bear witness to his creative work, be it with the Basel Sinfonietta or with bands such as Big Bold Back Bone, Lotus Crash or the Root Down Orchestra. In his current project “Life”, Marco von Orelli focuses on climate change and the resulting consequences for nature. Marco von Orelli wants to use the atmosphere and energy of specific places in the countryside to initiate a creative composition process using approaches such as field recordings and underwater recordings. Thanks to the «Get Going!» grant, not only is the development of this project secured, but also its objective: “Life” will ultimately be presented as a multidisciplinary performance of music and dance at selected outdoor locations.
marcovonorelli.ch