Interview: Montreux Jazz Festival connects East and West with China edition, says CEO

A concert given by Chinese musicians is staged in Vienna, Austria, on Aug. 10, 2023. (Xinhua/He Canling)

"Our goal is to always break the barriers of music and different cultures," said Mathieu Jaton, CEO of Montreux Jazz Festival.

by Martina Fuchs

MONTREUX, Switzerland, July 25 (Xinhua) -- As the curtains fell on the 58th Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, famous for its iconic live music performances since 1967, its CEO told Xinhua that the upcoming China edition is an opportunity to connect East and West.

This year's edition took place from July 5 to 20 in the Swiss resort town on the shores of Lake Geneva, nestled between steep hills and the Lavaux vineyard terraces, a UNESCO-listed world heritage site.

It attracted 250,000 festival-goers and recorded an average of 90 percent of tickets sold, its CEO Mathieu Jaton told Xinhua in an interview.

"I'm happy to say that even though we had a lot of extra costs, we covered the budget. This is the best news because it was quite a risky edition," he said.

"We are happy to say that we are safe. The beauty of the experience is that we started on a blank canvas without knowing exactly how it's going to work. And it worked tremendously," he said.

Organized outside the Convention Center which usually hosts the festival's main stages but is undergoing renovation, the main stages of the event were the Lake Stage constructed on the surface of Lake Geneva, and the Casino Stage.

Highlights this year included sold-out headliners such as Sting and Lenny Kravitz, as well as Deep Purple, Raye, Dionne Warwick, and The Smashing Pumpkins.

With 12 concerts sold out and an average occupancy rate of 92 percent, the Lake Stage met and even exceeded its objectives, Jaton said, adding that the Casino Stage also recorded very good figures, with 10 sell-outs and an 88 percent occupancy rate.

Jaton highlighted that the international expansion of the festival was now gathering pace. "We're very happy that the expansion of the brand is getting stronger and stronger with another addition of Montreux Jazz Festival China. We're very happy about it."

Swiss music promoter Claude Nobs, who died in 2013, founded the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1967 and built it into an international festival and event platform for music lovers.

Since its creation, the festival under its slogan "Where Legends Are Born" has seen many iconic live music performances. Superstars including Miles Davis, Aretha Franklin, Prince, Elton John and Stevie Wonder have all performed here over the years.

The festival will also travel to China for the third time in the fall and take place in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, from Oct. 25 to 27 under the Montreux Jazz Festival China's theme "When West Meets East."

"It's a beautiful experience we have with the Chinese people and the Montreux Jazz Festival China team," Jaton said.

"For us, it's very important to have the Montreux brand present in China because it's an amazing and a great market. Our goal is to always break the barriers of music and different cultures. Making the link with China, between the East and the West, is something very important," he said.