MONET EXHIBIT • ANNIE LEIBOVITZ • SKATING & TOBOGGANING FUN • HOLIDAY CAMPS Volume 5 Issue 5 CHF 6 6 A Monthly Guide to Living in Basel February 2017 EXTRAKONZERT COLLEGIUM MUSICUM BASEL PROMS CONCERT FINE ARTS BRASS QUINTETT ANNIVERSARY SURPRISE IN BRASS Ensemble Blechwind & Friends, Musik Akademie Basel, Einstudierung Franz Leuenberger KEVIN GRIFFITHS Dirigent GEORG FRIEDRICH HÄNDEL Music for the Royal Fireworks MANUEL DE FALLA El amor Brujo A CASUAL ARR. SIMON LENTON & STEPHEN ROBERTS APPROACH Tin Pan Alley Brass Suite RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS TO LUXURY MÄRZ 2017 Fantasia on Greensleeves, English Folk Song Suite EDWARD ELGAR Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 Vorverkauf: Kulturhaus Bider & Tanner, Telefon 061 206 99 96, [email protected] und allen üblichen Vorverkaufsstellen. FREITAG, 24. FREITAG, THEATERMUSICAL BASEL 19.30 UHR www.collegiummusicumbasel.ch ASK FOR A PERSONAL APPOINTMENT. PHONE +41 79 352 42 12 · AESCHENVORSTADT 36 4001 BASEL · WWW.JANETBARGEZI.COM 2 Basel Life Magazine / www.basellife.com LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Dear Readers, If you are not busily preparing for next month’s winter carnival (Fasnacht), the month of February offers much active fun for lovers of winter activities. February 2017 Volume 5 Issue 5 In addition to skiing and snowboarding, enjoy a night of snowshoeing by moonlight, a torch-lit walk, a visit to a colorfully lit ice palace, a day of TABLE OF CONTENTS ­getting around in the snow at the annual Snow-Up in canton Jura, or the family-fun activity of tobogganing. If you fancy skating, this is your last full month this season to visit one of the indoor or outdoor rinks, strut your Events in Basel: February 2017 4–9 stuff at the ice disco, or participate in the unforgettable experience of ­skating through a forest or on one of Switzerland’s frozen lakes, weather Fun Outings: Beyond Basel 10–12 permitting! If you prefer indoor cultural events at this time of the year, you also have plenty of options—Basel is bursting with new and exciting exhibits, from Sports and Recreation 13 the fabulous Claude Monet exhibit at the Fondation Beyeler and the 50th anniversary of the Jewish Museum of Switzerland, to exhibits on robots, Skating Special 14–15 brutalist playgrounds, performing machines, and chemical and pharma- ceutical innovations. The fantastic month-long temporary exhibit “WOMEN: New Portraits” by acclaimed celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz and Get Going!: Tobogganing Fun 16–17 the space-toy exhibit at the Zürcher Spielzeugmuseum will surely make a day excursion to Zürich a worthwhile venture this month. For some tips Calendar: February 2017 18–19 and ideas on how to best fit the greatest number of museum visits in ­Basel, neighboring Germany, France, and Switzerland into your budget, check this month's "Information Desk." Workshops, Tours, and Education 20–23 If you are a fan of the theater, you will certainly be entertained this month with a vast selection of children’s and adult theater, as well as family Special Feature: Holiday Camps for Kids 24 ­musicals like “Mary Poppins” and “Phantom of the Opera.” Don’t miss your chance to go behind the scenes at Theater Basel and see first-hand all of the steps involved in bringing a production to the stage. In addition to the Information Desk: Visit Switzerland’s Museums 25 theater, you can choose from an impressive selection of concerts, shows, opera, ballet, dances, comedy, tastings, and other events—the only prob- lem is to fit it all into your schedule! Did You Know? 26–27 In this February issue, you can also read about the rules of snow removal, the annual testing of the alarm system, and the two new lemurs at the Entertainment: Night on the Town 28–35 Basel Zoo. Just in time for Valentine’s Day, you will also learn about Sinfo- nieorchester Basel’s Mix and Mingles, as well as the legal age of “love” in Switzerland. Don’t miss the deadlines to sign up for the upcoming Satur- Ticket Office: Get Your Tickets Now! back page day-morning physics lectures for teens or for the spring edition of the Uni- versität Basel's lecture series for kids. And if you want to keep them busy Mark Your Calendar: March 2017 back page during the Fasnacht break, be sure to check out our list of holiday camps in the area. Wishing you a Fantastic February Filled with Fabulous Fun! Christine Pesold Basel Life Magazine Staff: COVER: Winter in Basel doesn’t usually mean a lot of snow, with the average daily Editor-in-Chief: temperatures staying above freezing even Christine Pesold in December, January, and February. In Advertising & Subscription Manager / Editor: fact, on average only 13 days per year are Susanne Hiller considered “ice days”—days, during which the maximal temperature stays below Design & Print: freezing. When it does snow, there usually Schwabe AG is not much accumulation and it quickly For more information about subscribing or advertising – please contact us: turns to unpleasant slush or melts away. But when there is a cover of freshly fallen info basellife.com snow, the city and its well-known land- www.facebook.com/basellifemagazine marks, such as the Helvetia sculpture, www.basellife.com take on a whole new magical quality! BASEL LIFE MAGAZINE / BASEL FAMILY GmbH © Copyright 2017. All rights reserved. It is our goal to provide valuable, timely information to our readers. The opinions expressed in the articles in this magazine are those of the contributing authors and do not reflect those of other members of the editorial staff and of any organizations or agencies distributing this magazine. Though we make every attempt to provide accurate information, we cannot be held respon- sible if any event is cancelled, postponed, or modified. We encourage readers to contact the event organizers or their websites to obtain the most current event information. Please note: No part of this periodical may be duplicated in any fashion, or redistributed in any written language, without permission from the executive staff at Basel Family GmbH. If you have any questions, contact Basel Family GmbH staff at: info basellife.com. photo credits: © christine pesold (cover), © anne kohler February 2017 3 Events in Basel: February 2017 Claude Monet Exhibit Until May 28 To mark its 20th anniversary, the Fondation Beyeler is presenting one of the most important and best-loved artists, Claude Monet. The exhibition will be a celebration of light and color, illustrating the artistic develop- ment of the great French painter from Impressionism to his famous late work. It will feature his Mediterranean landscapes, wild Atlantic coastal scenes, different stretches of the Seine river, meadows with wild flow- ers, haystacks, water lilies, cathedrals, and bridges shrouded in fog. In his paintings, Monet experimented with changing light and color effects in the course of a day and in different seasons. He succeeded in evoking magical moods through reflections and shadows. Claude Monet was a great pioneer who found the key to the secret garden of modern painting and opened everyone’s eyes to a new way of seeing the world. The first Monet exhibition in Switzerland in over 10 years will bring together 50 masterpieces from private collections and renowned museums, such as the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, the Pola Museum in Japan, the Metro- politan Museum in New York, and the Art Institute in Chicago. www.fondationbeyeler.ch Basler Jugendbücherschiff (Youth Book Ship) The Brutalist Playground Until February 7 Until April 16 This yearly event is a very special book fair that takes place on the MS Brutalist architecture is a controversial movement that originated in Christoph Merian boat that is docked at Schifflände. It houses all kinds Britain shortly after World War II, giving rise to expressive structures of books for kids of all ages in many different languages. Each year, made of raw materials with an uncompromisingly rugged aesthetic. thousands of children, adolescents, their parents, school classes, and Throughout the country, preeminent architects erected large residen- teachers—essentially anyone interested in children’s literature—visit the ship to leaf through the books on hand and discover new reading material. The motto this year is “Gesucht wird…” (Wanted…), and will focus on thrillers—stories of crime and investigation, in which the reader grows fond of the protagonist, empathetically going along through all of the dangers. At several stations, visitors can listen to scary stories told by the 6th graders of the Sevogel primary school, enriched with eerie background noises. There will also be many books devoted to the subject of flight and migration, with touching stories told from different perspectives—that of fugitives as well as that of immi- grants. The upper deck will feature books for adolescents, while the lower deck is devoted to the younger readers, with cozy reading cor- ners and numerous events that promote reading, including a story- telling night during which the ship travels up and down the Rhein. Visit the website for a complete program. Open Monday to Friday from 8:00– 12:00 and 14:00–18:00 (February 2 and 7 only until 16:00), Saturday and Sunday from 10:00–18:00. Entrance is free. www.edubs.ch/unterstuetzung/bibliothek/lesefoerderung/­ jugendbuecherschiff 4 Basel Life Magazine / www.basellife.com photo credits: © fondation beyeler, foto roland bayer (claude monet, nymphéas), © pola museum of art (claude monet, coucher de soleil sur la seine, l'hiver), tial complexes, primarily in concrete, some of which featured uncon- ventional play designs. For this exhibition at the Vitra Design Museum, just across the border in Weil am Rhein, Germany, the architectural collective Assemble (winner of the 2015 Turner Prize) and artist Simon Terrill have used archival material from the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) to recreate now demolished “Brutalist” playgrounds in hybrid architectural installations and walk-through sculptures for adults and children.