She’s known from television, the Eurovision Song Contest, and the concert stage. Yet suddenly, Zoë Më is standing in a classroom at the Liestal Gymnasium, showing how songs are created. Or she’s performing a pop-up concert at the youth center. These are the small wonders that the Baloise Session makes possible every year. It not only transforms classrooms in Basel and Liestal into creative music workshops, but also turns skeptical teenagers into enthusiastic songwriters.
“The most important thing is just to dare and get started,” the Swiss artist explains to the students in her role as workshop leader. A piece of encouragement that inspires many. What initially sounds like unattainable art turns out to be something anyone can do. From freewriting to spontaneous improvisation sessions, the workshop shows that songwriting isn’t magic—it mainly requires one thing: the courage to take the first step.
It becomes particularly moving when a student performs her own lyrics and Zoë Më immediately turns them into a song: “Loneliness is different than lingering in a rose garden,” it reads—and suddenly words become music. For music teacher Lucian, it’s clear: “When someone shows up whom you’ve seen on TV, it has a lasting impact.”
The highlight comes in the afternoon: a spontaneous pop-up concert by Zoë Më at the Liestal Youth Center, where the artist is right up close to her enthusiastic crowd. From “Durch die Nacht” to “Voyage,” when dozens sing along in unison, you feel what music truly means: connection.
The full story in video: See how the Baloise Session, with support from the Swisslos-Fonds Basel-Stadt and Basellandschaft, inspires young people to fall in love with music!