Jakob Pilgram

Jakob Pilgram (1981) graduated with distinction in Music Education and Choral Direction at the Music Academy of Basel, and at the Zurich University of Fine Arts. He furthered his studies with, a.o., Gérard Wyss, Markus Weiss and Margreet Honig. He was a soloist in three Bach cantatas and in Handel’s Ode for St. Cecilia’s Day in concerts conducted by Ton Koopman. Pilgram counts these amongst his most formative musical experiences. He sang the role of Damon in Handel’s Acis and Galatea, the role of Flaminio in Scarlatti’s Il trionfo dell’onore and toured with Freitags-Akademie Bern with Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. Since 2005 he is a member of the ensemble of the Origen Cultural Festival, where he has sung in a.o., Derungs’ Benjamin, Weber’s Messias and Britten’s The Burning Fiery Furnace. Pilgram is active both in Switzerland and abroad as a soloist in concerts and oratorios and as a specialist for Lieder. He has been influenced by conductors as, a.o., Thomas Hengelbrock and Clau Scherrer. His repertoire embraces works ranging from Claudio Monteverdi to Hans Werner Henze. In 2005 Pilgram founded the vocal ensemble Larynx, of which he is both artistic director and conductor. Larynx was awarded the Canton of Basel-Land’s Prize for the Promotion of Culture 2012. He is a member of various vocal ensembles as the Amsterdam Baroque Choir, the Balthasar Neumann Choir and the Ensemble Vocal Origen. Since 2004 he has been singing Lieder in partnership with the pianist Mischa Sutter.