Zbinden turns one hundred
Composer Julien-François Zbinden, also known as a remarkable jazz pianist, celebrates his centenary.
Born in Rolle on November 11, 1917, Julien-François Zbinden began his professional musical career as a pianist in jazz and variety bands. Radio-Lausanne hired him in this capacity in 1947. He soon became music director, then producer, head of the music department and finally deputy head of music programs at Radio Suisse Romande. His career in radio, spanning more than a third of a century, did not prevent him from finding time for long-term, loyal community involvement, in particular with the Swiss Musicians' Association, where he was a committee member from 1960 and then President from 1973 to 1979, and with copyright societies: In 1957, he joined the Mechanlizenz committee, then the Suisa committee when the two societies merged; he chaired Suisa from 1987 to 1991 (one of the highlights of his presidency was the creation of the Suisa Foundation). He has also been active on the boards of the OCL, as well as on numerous composition and performance competition juries.
For almost 80 years, Zbinden never stopped composing. After self-taught, he worked with Neuchâtel's René Gerber, mainly on counterpoint and orchestration. Played all over the world, the 112 opus numbers in his rich and varied catalog have been performed by some 70 orchestras, 30 ensembles and a host of other performers, including Denise Duval, Aurèle Nicolet, Siegfried Palm, Hansheinz Schneeberger, the Quatuor Sine Nomine, and conductors Charles Dutoit, Armin Jordan, Wolfgang Sawallisch and Hermann Scherchen, to name but a few. His catalog includes two stage works, an oratorio (Terra Deiop.41), five symphonies, some twenty concertante works (including his recent Tuba Concerto, premiered in 2015), numerous instrumental pieces (including five pieces entitled Solissimo) and chamber music (including two string quartets), sacred and secular choral works, as well as music for stage, film and radio, brass band pieces and even a few songs. His music remains one of the most widely performed of Swiss composers.
Find out more: www.jfzbinden.ch
