Dear LOFT,

Congratulations on your 35th birthday. How lucky I am that you exist, and I’m grateful that I’ve been able to perform with you since 1994.
But what is the LOFT actually? A room with chairs, an anteroom with a small bar. It doesn’t sound like anything special at first, but if you take a closer and more intensive look, it immediately becomes clear why the LOFT is such an ingenious and important place.
It is a space where things can be created, a place where the audience is very close and can experience the creative processes up close.

A space that sounds very good and in which the musicians therefore feel comfortable, can relax and therefore play well and alone in the spirit of the music. Nothing is artificial or hyped here, because the LOFT doesn’t take itself more seriously than the music itself and offers the space that acoustic music and improvisation need.
A place like this doesn’t just happen by itself! A lot of passion, love and work goes into it. It was founded 35 years ago by the orchestra musician of the WDR Symphony Orchestra Hans Martin Müller. He wanted to create a space for chamber music, took the musicians seriously and trusted them, and acted quite selflessly because he loves music in all its forms and was therefore never deterred in his mission and vision. The musicians and their music set the rules, that was and is the maxim and there are not that many venues where this is the case.

The LOFT has continued to develop, the concert space has been enlarged and even professionalized as a recording studio. In the meantime, the LOFT and its sound engineers have created their own signature sound.
Sometimes the LOFT has a hard time in cultural politics, because although it is so important for the local, national and international scene, it doesn’t make itself bigger than it is. You have to look closely to recognize its importance, but then again you don’t, because if you look at the music, the scene and the LOFT’s programme, you immediately notice how much know-how and talent there is. And that over decades with a continuity that is second to none.
The handover to the current director of the LOFT, Dr. Urs Benedikt Müller, who holds a doctorate in biology and is the son of the LOFT founder, was also very elegant: what an ideal appointment! He practically grew up in and with the LOFT and represents the same values as his father: standing up for independence and content, and always acting with heart and mind.

It was also an important and logical step that the 2ndFLOOR e.V. association was founded to help LOFT spread the work over more shoulders. The LOFT is supported by the association and the scene, and the jungloft members actively help with support and organization and even had their own concert series for a long time.

Last but not least, I would like to sing the praises of the LOFT’s audience. People often go to concerts primarily because they want to experience an event and not because they are necessarily interested in the music. Not so at LOFT: people go here to experience music in its pure and creative form. The LOFT audience looks forward to the surprising and spontaneous moments that can only be experienced live in this form.

Nils Wogram, Männedorf (CH), August 2024