Elise Jacoberger

Born in Guebwiller, France, Elise Jacoberger began her musical journey studying piano, voice, and bassoon. She pursued her bassoon studies under Jiri Stavicek at the Basel Conservatory of Music, earning her teaching diploma in 2004, before refining her expertise in contemporary music and contrabassoon with Pascal Gallois at the Zurich University of the Arts, where she obtained her concert diploma in 2007.

As a sought-after freelance musician, Elise has performed with leading European ensembles and orchestras, including Ensemble Intercontemporain, Orchestre National de Lorraine, Klangforum Wien, and Ensemble Contrechamps. She has been a frequent participant in the Lucerne Festival Academy under Pierre Boulez and is an active member of the Lucerne Festival Alumni Orchestra. Since 2012, Elise has held the position of principal bassoonist with the Basel Sinfonietta and, in 2014, joined Bern’s Proton Ensemble. She is also a founding member of the Blattwerk reed quintet, established in 2016. In 2024, she became a permanent member of Ensemble Musikfabrik, further deepening her engagement with contemporary music.

Deeply committed to the creation of new music, she has premiered works by composers such as Olga Neuwirth, Harrison Birtwistle, and Vinko Globokar. Elise is particularly drawn to working closely with the younger generation of composers:

“What excites me most about contemporary music is being in close contact with the younger generation of composers. To see what their current preoccupations are, for what reasons or causes they feel the need to express themselves, what the major issues of our time are (philosophical, political, etc.), and what new aesthetics they are moving towards. I also enjoy this exchange with them, trying to understand the sounds they imagine and transpose them to my instruments by inventing new techniques, exploring the infinite possibilities of playing, and thus contributing in my own way to the genesis of new works.”

Passionate about education, Elise regularly shares her expertise through masterclasses and workshops at institutions such as Hanns Eisler Berlin, the conservatories of Leipzig and Dresden, Washington State University, Stanford, UC Berkeley, and the University of the Arts in Tehran.