EMERGENCY
RELIEF FUND

Supporting the Verbier Festival Family

Emergency relief to freelance, self-employed and newly unemployed Verbier Festival Academy alumni — solo, chamber and orchestral instrumentalists, singers, conductors — and alumni production and technical crew facing lost income because of the global Covid-19 pandemic

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The global health crisis has brought the world of arts and culture to its knees. Performances and productions have been cancelled for months, causing many artists and creative workers to lose economic and social stability. 

The Verbier Festival Emergency Relief Fund was launched in April 2020 to offer support to those Verbier Festival family members most in need. The Fund provides grants to freelance, self-employed and newly unemployed alumni of the Verbier Festival Academy—those musicians who have been part of the Festival’s orchestras, soloist, chamber music, voice and conducting programmes—plus alumni production and technical crew.

Phase I of this project provided CHF 620K to 244 individuals facing financial hardship throughout the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, from 15 April to 30 September. Applications for support are now being accepted for a second phase of this programme. While candidates may request support more than once, those who have not yet received support will be given priority. Eligible requests ranging from CHF 1,000 to  5,000 will be considered.

Fund Oversight

The Verbier Festival Emergency Relief Fund is held and administered independently from the Verbier Festival Foundation by the Swiss Philanthropy Foundation—a not-for-profit foundation based in Geneva, whose mission is to create, host and manage philanthropic funds. As an independent entity, Swiss Philanthropy Foundation will ensure compliance measures are met and will distribute grants directly to the selected artists in need.

Guiding Principles

Trust
The Verbier Festival Emergency Relief Fund aims to provide relief from financial hardship. To that end, we ask for relatively little by way of documentation. We trust that those who apply indeed face a vulnerable situation during this crisis period.

Generosity
No one funder can lessen the financial impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. Before applying, we ask candidates to self-assess their financial situation and to only apply if they are critically in need and for the amount that is needed.