con sordino

In 2020, percussionist Peter Conradin Zumthor (*1979) was Bell Ringer in Residence at the Lucerne Festival and realised the project «con sordino», in which he changed the sound of the bells of four Lucerne churches. Other locations followed: in 2023 he prepared the bells of St Stephen's Cathedral as part of the Wien Modern festival and at Easter 2024 the bells of the old town churches in Zurich. Now he is realising the project in Gais together with inventor Gabriel Schneider. The artistic intervention on the bells of the reformed church changes the usual sound pattern. With subtle acoustic accents, Zumthor ensures that sound art is present in Gais for the duration of the festival.

The prepared church bells are best heard either on the lawn by the fountain on the village square or in the small garden behind the church. They ring for 4 minutes at the following times:
Mon to Fri 6:00, 11:00, 16:00 and 19:30
Sat 6:00, 11:00, 16:00 and 18:00
Sun 18:00