Künstlerhaus Boswil
Künstlerhaus Boswil, ‘place of music’, is a cultural foundation in Boswil in the canton of Aargau, Switzerland. Formerly a Roman Catholic presbytery, church and chapel, this trio of buildings are perched on a rise, watched over by mature trees, stone walls gently following the contours of the land, looking down to fields and farmlands, onwards to the Alps. Built in 1600, the presbytery and church were deconsecrated early in the 20th century, first rented to a painter, then transformed into a home for elderly, financially challenged artists. The first artists moved to the renovated parsonage in 1960, and events, courses, symposia, conferences and international composition competitions began to be organised by the foundation. After the death of the last pensioner in 1991, the Künstlerhaus became a cultural centre for classical music, jazz, literature, fine arts, dance and theatre. Since 2006, Künstlerhaus Boswil has dedicated itself exclusively to music, running ongoing community and education programs, occasional large-scale artistic projects, a regular series of chamber concerts and a summer festival.
On the invitation and encouragement of composer and former CEO Michael Schneider, Pleasure Garden took residence in the grounds July-August 2019. Accompanied by jackdaws nesting and roosting in the tower, storks perched on the steeple, the sounds of working farms and their resident animals, the work took on a particularly bucolic quality in this tranquil place.
