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Welcome to the website of the association ahimè!
The association was founded in the summer of 2022 by three singers in Basel. It organises opera productions at unique locations .
ahimè!'s productions are accessible and address gripping topics that are relevant today .
We perform our productions away from established opera houses and offer our audiences free admission. This makes opera accessible to a wider audience.
We offer performance opportunities and project experience for promising young musicians and theater artists with challenging roles.
The concept
Elitist and old-fashioned ?
Not with us.
Since its founding, ahimè! has shown that opera can be different.
What is different about ahimè?!
We do not charge any entrance fees .
Enjoy the show and donate whatever you want.
Photos and videos are welcome during the performance. Do not hesitate to share your experience with us on social media.
We have no dress code!
T-shirt and flip-flops? No problem.
Come as you are!
We perform operas at unique locations.
At our shows, the whole venue becomes the stage and you get to experience opera up close.
Bonus: Explore the stage during the break.
We get to the point. Instead of lengthy dramas, ahimè!s shows are dynamic and under two hours.
We have a Bar.
You can buy a drink during the break and enjoy it
while watching the performance.
The association
Our story...
We are three young singers and friends, David Ferreira, Julian Schmidlin and Tamina Biber and founded ahimè! in the summer of 2022, in Basel.
We kept on getting asked by our non-musician friends about how to behave at the opera: whether you have to read up on the plot, what you should wear and when you are allowed to clap. There seems to be a kind of fear of contact when it comes to the genre. How much nicer would an opera experience be if it was just about the story and the music - absolutely free from intimidating formalities? One evening, over dinner, we said to ourselves: Let's just do it. And so, the idea for ahimè! was born.
We welcome new audiences to enter the world of opera, surprise opera lovers with innovative concepts and offer young artists a platform where they can gain experience with challenging roles and expand their network . In doing so, we are closing a gap in the Swiss cultural landscape.
Tamina Biber, David Ferreira, Julian Schmidlin,
project managers and founders of the association
archive
Rodelinda | September 2023
shortened version of the opera "Rodelinda, Regina de' Longobardi" (1725)
Music: Georg Friedrich Händel
Libretto: Nicola Francesco Haîm
Performances:
September 9. / 10., 2023 Voltahalle Basel
15. / 16.09.2023 Halle 710 Winterthur
Rodelinda was ahimè! ’s first project and was performed in former industrial halls alongside an orchestra on historical instruments.
Through Handel's lesser-known opera, ahimè! addressed the question of power in its various forms. At the centre of the stage design was a gallery of portraits showing various rulers and influential personalities.
Download the program booklet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1POLoAZ71D3TSSzjKeIDZcFAPPSC5Sid1/view?usp=share_link
Project management: David Ferreira, Julian Schmidlin, Tamina Biber
Director: Viola Bierich
Musical Director: David Fasold
Stage: Fenna von Hirschheydt
Costumes: Fenna von Hirschheydt, Viola Bierich
Lighting: Tiziano Seewer
Assistant Director / Stage Manager: Adela Bierich
Rodelinda | September 2023
shortened version of the opera "Rodelinda, Regina de' Longobardi" (1725)
Music: Georg Friedrich Händel
Libretto: Nicola Francesco Haîm
Performances:
September 9. / 10., 2023 Voltahalle Basel
15. / 16.09.2023 Halle 710 Winterthur
Project management: David Ferreira, Julian Schmidlin, Tamina Biber
Director: Viola Bierich
Musical Director: David Fasold
Stage: Fenna von Hirschheydt
Costumes: Fenna von Hirschheydt, Viola Bierich
Lighting: Tiziano Seewer
Assistant Director / Stage Manager: Adela Bierich
Rodelinda was ahimè! ’s first project and was performed in former industrial halls alongside an orchestra on historical instruments.
Through Handel's lesser-known opera, ahimè! addressed the question of power in its various forms. At the centre of the stage design was a gallery of portraits showing various rulers and influential personalities.
Download the program booklet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1POLoAZ71D3TSSzjKeIDZcFAPPSC5Sid1/view?usp=share_link
"The enthusiasm with which those involved approach their work is not only touching, but simply magnificent. The result is an excellent evening of opera, low-threshold and without clichés, but at the highest level."
Simon Baur, Basler Zeitung (07.09.23)
media coverage
SRF Tagesschau/08.09.2023
SRF Tagesschau/08.09.2023
SRF Tagesschau/08.09.2023
SRF Tagesschau/08.09.2023
SRF Tagesschau/08.09.2023
SRF Tagesschau/08.09.2023
Basler Zeitung/07.09.2023
"Georg Friedrich Handel's opera "Rodelinda" is performed with a lot of enthusiasm and inventiveness by a young ensemble for a young audience. And all that at the highest level."
Read more here:
In the Voltahalle in Basel: Opera for young people | Basler Zeitung (bazonline.ch)
RadioX/07.09.2023
"Opera without all the frills and easily accessible to the young population. That is the motto of the ahimè! association. They present Handel's opera "Rodelinda" in a new way in an industrial hall."
Read more here:
Opera in a completely different way (radiox.ch)
The founders
president of the association
David Ferreira
David Ferreira is currently completing his Masters in Education with Werner Güra at the Zurich University of the Arts. etc...
communication
Tamina Biber
Tamina has been studying at the Basel University of Music since 2020, where she completed her bachelor's degree in singing with Isolde Siebert in 2023. However, she gained her first experience on stage in the theater before devoting herself entirely to music. What she loves about opera is how it combines art forms from various areas besides music and acting, such as dance, visual arts, literature, fashion, rhetoric and many more.
finances
Julian Schmidlin
A dedicated Head Buyer, Jordan Parker has spent her career helping thousands of people love what they wear. You can always count on them to make themselves available to answer your questions.
