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ABOUT ME

Peter Schärli, trumpet

Peter Schärli has shaped the Swiss jazz scene for decades. He works as a musician, composer and bandleader.
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Peter Schärli began playing the trumpet at the age of ten in Schötz/LU. He attended the Swiss Jazz School in Bern, where he graduated with a diploma in 1981.
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He has been working as a professional musician since 1978 and plays with many different artists and bands, at home and abroad, in a wide variety of line-ups and styles.
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Peter Schärli has made an excellent name for himself with his own bands, as a versatile sideman and as a composer of theatre music. His various engagements took him to music and theatre festivals in Europe, India, the former USSR, Africa, Central and South America. Peter Schärli taught music as a lecturer at the «Hochschule Luzern-Musik» (formerly «Jazz Schule Luzern») for 40 years.
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Schärli brings his signature of clarity and transparency to all projects. Thanks to his long experience with constant “working bands” and constant practice, he has achieved an impressive sound culture and makes it clear that in the end only one thing counts in music: spirit. His improvisations are not based on scale juggling, but on melodic intuition that brings together form and feeling. That's what makes his music so compelling and beautiful.
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He currently works primarily with his own bands:
  • Peter Schärli Trio featuring Glenn Ferris
    Thomas Dürst (b), Glenn Ferris (tb), Hans-Peter Pfammatter (p), Peter Schärli (tp)
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  • Peter Schärli:«Don’t Change Your Hair For Me»
    Thomas Dürst (b), Antonia Giordano (g/voc), Sandy Patton (voc), Peter Schärli (tp)
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  • Peter Schärli Big Trio featuring Sandy Patton and Glenn Ferris
    Thomas Dürst (b), Glenn Ferris (tb), Antonia Giordano (g/voc), Sandy Patton (voc), Hans-Peter Pfammatter (p), Peter Schärli (tp)
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  • Schärli & Zytynska “duoplus”
    Peter Schärli (tp), Sylwia Zytynska (perc)
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  • Peter Schärli:«Peace Now!”
    Silke Eberhard (as), Jean-Jacques Pedretti (tb), Christian Weber (b), Norbert Pfammatter (dr), Peter Schärli (tp)​
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  • Peter Schärli Young Quintet
    Madlaina Küng (b), Mareille Merck (g), Peter Schärli (tp), Samuel Schärli (dr), Elian Zeitel (voc)
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  • Peter Schärli double vision
    Lars Vindvall (tp), Peter Schärli (tp), Vince Benedetti (p), Hämi Hämmerli (b), Elmar Frey (dr)
     
  • Peter Schärli: “So auch!”
    Barbara Berger (voc), Madlaina Küng (b), Ben Jeger (acc), Peter Schärli (tp)

Pirmin Bossart

Just as Peter Schärli doesn't seem to age in his appearance and nature, his music also has something timeless and unassailable. “Simple and self-evident like all great art,” Peter Rüedi accurately stated.

Pirmin Bossart about Peter Schärli in the Willisauer Bote on August 29th, 2015

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