Lucerne Festival Forward, a key platform for new music, contemporary creation and unconventional concert formats, returns for its fifth edition from 21 to 23 November and this year, all eyes are on violinist, performer, and composer Patricia Kopatchinskaja. Long acclaimed for her visionary artistry and genre-defying projects, Kopatchinskaja now marks a significant milestone in her compositional career with the performance of her double concerto for violin and cello, Five Dreams.

Known as PatKop when working as a composer, Kopatchinskaja performs Five Dreams, a work she describes as ​“about friendships, shared history, and the echoes of the past.” Structured in five dreamlike scenes and infused with theatrical elements, the concerto reflects moments and encounters from her own life. She performs it together with cellist Anastasia Kobekina, with whom she has developed a close artistic partnership.

Five Dreams received its first performance in 2024 at the Presenza Festival with the Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana and Sol Gabetta, under the title A Play. For this years’ Lucerne appearance, Kopatchinskaja presents a revised, expanded version.

Kopatchinskaja is no stranger to the Forward Festival. Her previous appearances included two staged concept concerts: Dona nobis pacem and In Search of György Ligeti’s Lost Melody, her imaginative homage to Ligeti. With Five Dreams, she returns to Lucerne not only as a performer but also as a composer of a large-scale symphonic work.