| The 61st edition of the Sion Festival, co-curated by Pavel Vernikov and Janine Jansen, kicks off with an intense and sparkling weekend. On Friday 15 August, the festival will welcome one of Europe's oldest boys' choirs, the St. Florianer Sängerknaben, and on Sunday 17 August two great violinists, Janine Jansen and Candida Thompson. From 15 August to the evening of 16 August, a free mini-festival will take place within the main festival with Musique en fête, 24 hours of non-stop music in the town of Sion. Until 31 August, international stars will perform in Sion alongside rising stars and Swiss artists, in a joyous mix of styles. An Austrian choir with a millenary history will open the festival in the centuries-old Cathedral of Sion. Embodying both tradition and innovation in the art of choral music, the St. Florianer Sängerknaben will move effortlessly from sacred music to Austrian heritage, via pop and gospel classics. Immediately afterwards, in front of the Cathedral, the first notes of Musique en fête will be heard, a feast of music that will continue uninterrupted for 24 hours. Shattering musical boundaries, 17 free concerts will take the public on a stroll through the streets of Sion. Highlights of this exciting event include the Opus13 string quartet, young prodigy Dmitry Ishkhanov and the famous Paganini Ensemble Wien, as well as local artists like Valentin Conus, Estelle Revaz, Sarah Pagin, Louis Delignon, DJ St-Paul and the Cors de Lavaux. To round off the first weekend of the festival, a spectacular concert will be held in the church of Hérémence. Janine Jansen, accompanied by an impressive string ensemble conducted by Candida Thompson, will offer a programme of contrasts, between the luminous virtuosity of Vivaldi's famous Four Seasons (300 years after their publication) and the poignant dramatic intensity of Mendelssohn's Quartet in F minor, the composer's last work. The Sion Festival continues on 22 August with the ensemble Il Suonar Parlante, bringing together baroque and contemporary music. On the weekend of 23-24 August, the young Ilumina ensemble, led by violist Jennifer Stumm, will build a bridge between Brazil and Europe. From 26 August, the Sion Festival will take up residence at NODA BCVS for a series of prestigious symphonic and chamber concerts with big names on the programme: Janine Jansen, Martin Fröst, Pablo Ferrández, Janoska Ensemble or Ekaterina Shelehova. The new NODA BCVS concert hall in Sion will also be the venue for the 3rd round and the final of the Tibor Varga International Violin Competition 2025, to be held from 22 to 30 August. | 
