Jakob Pilgram

The tenor Jakob Pilgram comes from Basel and is enthusiastically pursuing a career that encompasses singing, teaching and artistic and conceptual activities. He performs in concert throughout Europe. He enjoys working both as a soloist and in a team, and is accustomed to keeping a cool head even under the most stressful coloratura situations.

He has been a member of the Balthasar Neumann Choir since 2010, appearing in numerous projects as a soloist and choral singer. For several years he also served as a member of the Artistic Board and as co-director of the Singers’ Academy: the Balthasar Neumann Choir’s development programme, which aims to prepare young people specifically for singing in choirs and vocal ensembles.

Jakob Pilgram is artistic director of the vocal ensemble larynx, founded in Basel in 2005, which focuses on chamber-music interpretations of little known but historically significant and demanding vocal works.

In addition, he is the artistic co-director of two Basel-based festivals: the annual chamber music festival monuments musicaux and the Orpheus Festival Basel for vocal music. He also serves on the board of the Friends of Early Music Basel association — a concert series for early music affiliated with the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis — and Besuch der Lieder, an artistic collective that aims to bring song recitals into private homes.

Following a less than successful two-year foray into the world of mathematics, Jakob Pilgram turned his passion for music into a profession, studying singing and choral directing. Today he teaches singing at the Basel Academy of Music and on the programme PreCollege Basel, and is artistic director of the Collegium Musicum and lecturer in vocal ensemble at the Lucerne School of Music.