Starting in December 2019, Audemars Piguet has become the Global Partner of the Montreux Jazz Festival alongside AccorHotels. The partnership is a natural evolution of the manufacturer’s ongoing collaboration and “strong relationship” with the Montreux Jazz Festival.
Since 2010, Audemars Piguet has joined the Claude Nobs Foundation and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) in the Montreux Jazz Digital Project. This massive project enabled the digitalisation, restoration and preservation of the Festival’s entire sound archives, acknowledged by UNESCO as part of its “Memory of the World.” This collection contains more than 5,000 hours of concert recordings. Quincy Jones has described this unique collection as “the most important testimonial to the history of music, covering jazz, blues and rock.”
The partnership extends to all the Festival’s entities, including the Montreux Jazz Café restaurants, the Montreux Jazz Festival Japan and the Montreux Jazz Artists Foundation. The Foundation supports tomorrow’s artists notably through the Montreux Jazz Academy and the Montreux Jazz Talent Awards.
“We are delighted to pursue a common history, which began years ago. As Global Partner, Audemars Piguet will accompany us all year long, in Switzerland and throughout the world.” – Mathieu Jaton, Chief Executive Officer of the Montreux Jazz Festival
The partnership with the Montreux Jazz Festival extends Audemars Piguet’s long-standing attachment to the world of music. In 2005, on the occasion of Jay-Z’s 10th Roc-A-Fella Records anniversary, Audemars Piguet and Jay-Z collaborated on a limited edition of the Royal Oak Offshore. In 2009, the brand presented the Millenary Quincy Jones limited edition, a watch also symbolising the broader collaboration between Audemars Piguet and the internationally renowned music producer and director on Project Q, which raised awareness on young people’s need for self-expression and self-fulfilment.
François-Henry Bennahmias, Audemars Piguet’s Chief Executive Officer, is a man fascinated by music. He celebrated the new partnership in a rather unique way; by paying tribute to Etta James, he sang “At last, my love has come along. At last … I found a dream that I could speak to. A dream that I can call my own.”
The Montreux Jazz Festival was founded in 1967 by Claude Nobs. It takes place over two weeks each summer on the shores of Lake Geneva, Switzerland and draws more than 250,000 visitors each year. The festival will celebrate its 53rd edition from June 28 to July 13, 2019. The concerts are renowned for their acoustics quality and numerous free-access events. The unique proximity between the biggest artists and their audiences has encouraged improvisation which has resulted in historic performances by artists such as Nina Simone, Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, Marvin Gaye, Prince, Leonard Cohen, David Bowie, and Stevie Wonder.
Audemars Piguet has clearly added music to its promotional strategy and is expected to announce the development of some more projects in the coming year.
