Every year, the international music elite meets at the Baloise Session. Which stars is Beatrice Stirnimann, CEO, particularly looking forward to this year? We present some of the highlights of this year's program.
Miles Davis, Sir Elton John, Tom Jones and Eric Clapton have already played on the Baloise Session stage. Every year, the festival surprises us with a program full of delicacies - it's a well-stocked grab bag. And it has been for 32 years. Which act is Beatrice Stirnimann, CEO of the Baloise Session, particularly looking forward to? "Of course we're very excited and it's a great honor that Alicia Keys is playing two concerts in our intimate atmosphere with club tables and candlelight. We are particularly proud of this superstar."
Alicia Keys, the beautiful New York musician with the chicken-skin voice and the magical piano. In 2017, Alicia Keys, Nelly Furtado, Alison Goldfrapp, Imelda May and Ira May are among the many female singers coming to Basel. "Yes, we have a lot of female stars. But when you take a second look at the program, it quickly becomes clear that with Chris Rea, Kaleo, Madness and Max Giesinger, we also have great musical representatives of the male sex on stage this year," says Stirnimann and tells us what she is particularly proud of in 2017: "That we have once again managed to put together a program that combines the new, the tried and tested and the exclusive in one program. Every evening, our program combinations tell musical stories that connect the two acts."
Global star Alicia Keys, real name Alicia Augello-Cook, will have plenty to tell. For example, about her time as a multiple "The Voice" judge, or how the songs on her new album "Here" came about. The 36-year-old with the golden voice was already in Switzerland in summer 2013. The mother of two will be accompanied at the Baloise Session by two local singers: Ira May from Basel and Annie Goodchild, originally from Boston. The latter has been part of the Basel scene for four years. Two concert evenings with strong voices, in an intimate setting, with candlelight and a club atmosphere. An ambience that the stars also like, such as Dire Straits legend Mark Knopfler, who liked all the vibes, or rock star Pink: "I had the closest contact with the audience here on my entire tour."
