Michael Haefliger

Michael Haefliger (born 2 May 1961) Lucerne Festival Academy, and Davos Festival—Young Artists in Concert.

Early life and education Michael Haefliger was born in West Berlin in 1961 to Swiss tenor Ernst Haefliger and architect Anna Golin; he is the brother of pianist Andreas Haefliger and actress Christine Marecek. He subsequently studied management at the Schools of Business, Law, and Social Sciences at University of St. Gallen, earning his Executive MBA in 1999. composer Tyshawn Sorey; and conductor Andris Nelsons. Upon Abbado's death in 2014, Haefliger named Riccardo Chailly as the music director of the Festival Orchestra.

Also in 2003, Haefliger co-founded the Lucerne Festival Academy with Pierre Boulez. Accompanying these efforts are programs intended to broaden the Lucerne Festival's audience base, such as the "40 Minutes" series for families and Haefliger has also overseen the launch of three smaller festivals under the Lucerne Festival umbrella: the “Lucerne Festival Forward” contemporary music festival, which takes place in November; a spring festival featuring the Lucerne Festival Orchestra; and a piano festival that takes place in May. First launched in Matsushima in 2013,

In November 2022, the Lucerne Festival announced that Haefliger would conclude his directorship in 2025. succeeded him from 1 January 2026.

Honors and awards In 2000, Haefliger was named Global Leader for Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum Foundation in Geneva.

Haefliger serves on the boards of the Lang Lang International Music Foundation, UBS Cultural Foundation, Pierre Boulez Foundation, He has one daughter, Anna Berenika Haefliger, from his first marriage to Irina Nikitina.