Concert-goers enjoy sunset cocktails before an evening concert.
EVERY AUGUST since 2010, the Variations Musicales de Tannay brings classical musicians of the highest calibre to the bucolic setting of the Château de Tannay, located in the charming, pocket-sized Vaudois municipality of the same name just up from the shores of Lac Leman.
In 2025, the festival’s directorship and artistic programming passed from original founder Serge Schmidt to Albanian virtuoso violinist Tedi Papavrami. Claus Hässig, the former general secretary of the Grand-Théâtre de Genève, took over the festival’s presidency.
More audacious and youth-oriented
With this change in management came a new approach: the festival undertook a “more audacious, intellectually demanding, and conceptually diverse direction,” Classiquenews reported in 2025.
An example of this new direction was to include – as it does again in 2026 – bird-song impressionists, who perform this year on 30 August with the popular Orchestre des Pays de Savoie under the direction of Arie van Beek.
Another new focus has been to emphasise emerging young talent of prodigious ability, including in the lineup last year the 16-year-old pianist Arielle Beck, whose virtuosity (and sheer stamina) left me in awe.
The 2026 season continues in this vein, showcasing elite student ensembles such as the Hautes Écoles de Musique de Genève et de Lausanne on 28 August as well as students of the Geneva Conservatory of Music, who will give a free family concert on 22 August.
Bespoke collaborations of elite musicians
The festival often curates custom-made collaborations where world-class artists merge into one group: this year, “Quintettes avec Piano” features an all star ensemble of soloists and members of prestigious quartets to present pieces by Brahms and Dvorak.
This season, as in 2024, cello prodigy Edgar Moreau will join pianist David Kadouch for an evening devoted to Rachmaninov, Dvorak and Shostakovitch on 21 August.
For lovers of voice
If voice has a special place in your heart, join French opera star Stéphane Degout on 23 August as he interprets songs by Ravel and Brahms among others, together with promising young singers of La Chapelle musicale Reine Elisabeth.
Whatever your level of appreciation for classical music, the Variations de Tannay gives you privileged, local access to some of the most prestigious and promising artists performing right now.
It does so in one of the most beautiful, easily accessible settings to be found anywhere in the world. ♥
Creative Living Geneva 