ISPA Award Recipient

Michael Haefliger

2025 International Citation of Merit Recipient

For nearly 40 years, Michael Haefliger has led the most significant festivals in the world, fostered innovation in the new music space, and created lasting and meaningful educational and early-professional opportunities for young artists. A violinist and graduate of Juilliard, Haefliger began his career as a performing artist; he carries that training with him in his management career, with an arts-forward approach that prioritizes cooperation, education, and musical innovation. Over his lengthy career, Haefliger has built bridges between the arts and society at large, pioneered festival formats and themes that have set the standard for programming at institutions around the world, and cultivated an extensive network of contacts at all levels of classical and contemporary music: from emerging artists and composers to seasoned institutional figures, legendary conductors and instrumentalists, and high-value sponsors.

As Artistic and Executive Director of the Lucerne Festival since 1999, Haefliger has utterly transformed the institution, working together with fellow visionaries Claudio Abbado and Pierre Boulez to establish the Lucerne Festival Orchestra and Lucerne Festival Academy, elevating the festival into a world-renowned international brand synonymous with musical excellence and innovation, and doubling the festival budget while maintaining a 95% self-funding rate. Now spread across multiple venues—ranging from the KKL Concert Hall and the streets, hotels, and restaurants of Lucerne, to the innovative Ark Nova Mobile Concert Hall and Connected streaming platform—and with several tours and extended residencies throughout Europe, Asia, and the United States, the Lucerne Festival, Orchestra, and Academy have had a profound impact on the cultural, musical, and educational landscape around the world.

For his efforts, Haefliger has been recognized with major international awards and titles. In 2000, he was named Global Leader for Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum Foundation in Geneva; further honors include the Cultural Award of Central Switzerland, Medal of Honor of the City of Lucerne, Swiss Society of New York Award, and European Cultural Innovation Award.

Haefliger serves on the boards of the Lang Lang International Music Foundation, UBS Cultural Foundation, Pierre Boulez Foundation, Davos Festival Foundation, and Foundation of the Swiss Music Youth Competition; he is also the Chairman of the Jury for the UBS Young Artist Award, and Vice-Chairman of the Board of the Swiss Top Events. He previously served on the boards of the World Arts Forum, American Friends of Lucerne Festival, and Avenir Suisse Foundation in Switzerland.

Born in West Berlin in 1961, Michael Haefliger began studying the violin and piano at the age of six; he completed his violin studies at the Juilliard School of Music in New York in 1983, graduating with a Bachelor of Music degree. As a performer, Haefliger made appearances at festivals including Interlaken and Spoleto; in 1985, together with his brother Andreas, he made his debut at the Lucerne Festival. He subsequently studied management at the Schools of Business, Law, and Social Sciences at St. Gallen University, earning his Executive MBA in 1999.

In 2003, Haefliger received a scholarship (through the Harvard Club of Switzerland) to attend the General Management Program at Harvard University. Haefliger speaks German (native), English, Spanish, French, Italian, and Russian.

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