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Brigitte Schär on 
Photo-documentation Indonesia-tour and UBUD Writer and Reader Festival 2017 in Bali here
Now!Jakarta – about the performance of Brigitte Schär here
Brigitte Schär grew up in Meilen on Lake Zurich (daughter of a Swiss father and a German mother) and now lives in Zurich. She studied German Language and Literature, European folk literature and French Literature and completed a degree program for voice and speech. After her studies at the Master level, Brigitte Schär worked for several years as a German teacher and did studio voice recording work for the blind. At the same time, she began making more and more public appearances as both a singer and an artistic performer. Since 1988, she has been working as a freelance writer, singer and performer.
Brigitte Schär writes books for both adults and children and has been awarded numerous prizes. As a singer she has performed in a variety of countries (e.g. Sudan, Lebanon, the US), accompanied by international artists. While in Beirut in 1996, she recorded her CD “Vocal Flight to Beirut”, a work which traverses the boundaries between jazz, vocal improvisation, ethno, chanson, and pop.
As an artistic performer, Brigitte Schär has been involved in many multi-media projects (tours included) in the areas of dance, theater, video, and film. As both a writer and an artist, Ms. Schär seeks to create an original and extraordinary linking of her own literary work to her work as a performer. The result: theatrical “reading-performances” and “concert-readings” for both adults and children.
Today Brigitte Schär is invited as a solo-performer into the whole world. She was invited in nearly 30 countries: U.S.A, Canada, Sudan, Ecuador, Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Belarus, Taiwan, Lebanon, Chile, Uruguay, Egypt, Indonesia and many countries of Europe...
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Awards:
Swiss Young Adult Literary Prize, 1993; Commissioned for a work by the Swiss Cultural Foundation Pro Helvetia, 1995; Schnabelsteher Prize, 1997; Children’s Literature Award Northrhine-Westfalia, 1997; Grant for Artist in Residence at the KünstlerInnenhaus Wiepersdorf Palace, Mark Brandenburg, 1997; IBBY List of Honor, 1998; Children’s and Young Adult’s Media Prize “Die rote Zora”, 1999; Cultural Award of the Canton of Zurich (specialized area: adult literature), 1999; Selected to participate in competition: Ingeborg Bachmann Prize for Literature in Klagenfurt, Austria, 2001; Nomination for the German Young Adult Literature Prize, 2002. Highly varied diplomas “Best Books”. Luchs for "Die Weihnachts-Show", 2005. Commissioned for a work by the Swiss Cultural Foundation Pro Helvetia, 2005 and by USB Culture Foundation 2006. Swiss Children's Literature Award 2011, nomination - short list for Dinosaurier im Mond.
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Brigitte Schär’s books have been translated into 16 languages. Several books were adapted for theaterplays or radio emissions. Several of her children’s books are illustrated by Jacky Gleich. Other books are illustrated by Andersen-Award-winner Jörg Müller, Verena Ballhaus, Julia Gukowa, Inge Steineke and Lika Nüssli.
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All the books and CDs of Brigitte Schär
Book and CD Publications
for children and adults:
Das Schubladenkind (Geschichten), Nagel & Kimche, Zürich1988 und dtv/Reihe Hanser, München 2003
Das geht doch nicht!, Hanser, 1995 und dtv/Reihe Hanser, 2000
Monsterbesuch!, Hanser, 1996
Das Haus auf dem Hügel, Hanser, 1998
Die blinde Fee, Nord-Süd, 1998, English translation „The Blind Fairy“, North-South Books Inc., 1998
Die Entführung der Welt (Roman), Hanser, 2000
Mama ist gross wie ein Turm, Hanser, 2001
CD Rundherum. Musik-CD und CD-ROM. Grenzland Produktion, 2002
Die Weihnachts-Show: illustrations byJörg Müller, Sauerländer by Patmos, Düsseldorf 2005
Geschichten vom Roll und vom Ruh: illustrations by Verena Ballhaus, Bajazzo Verlag, Zürich 2006
Dinosaurier im Mond. Verrückte Geschichten. Illustrations by Jacky Gleich. Sauerländer bei Patmos 2009
Adieu, Goodbye, Auf Wiedersehen, llustrations by Babette Maeder, Lehrmittelverlag Zürich 2011
5 winzig kleine Zwerge, Illustrationen Lika Nüssli, SJW 2012
Das geht doch nicht!, Illustrationen Jacky Gleich, Neuausgabe SJW 2011
CD Anker lichten, Segel setzen!, Geschichten-Lieder, Grenzland-Produktion 2011
Spatz und Schwein, Illustrationen Jacky Gleich, didaktischer Kommentar Ursina Gloor, Schulverlag Plus 2012
Dominos Geheimnis (Illust. Andrea Caprez), SJW, Schweizer Jugendschriftenwerk 2015
Lisa, Paul und Frau Fisch (Illust. Jens Rassmus), Peter Hammer Verlag 2016
Hanna und Leo - Von einem anderen Stern. Roman. Baeschlin 2018
Biest auf der Spur - 2. Teil von "Dominos Geheimnis, Illust. Andrea Caprez, SJW 2021
Im wilden Galopp, Illustr. Karin Hauser, SJW 2022
Die Weihnachtsparty, Illustration:s Heike Herold, Peter Hammer Verlag 2022
for adults only:
Auf dem hohen Seil, Geschichten, eFeF, 1991
Liebesbriefe sind keine Rechnungen. Stories, Hanser,1998
Unwetter-unheilvolle Geschichten, Vorwort Franz Hohler, Illustr. Ulrich Zwick, Knapp 2016
CD Vom Fliegen und Wildschweinjagen, literature and music , Grenzland Produktion, 2001.
CD Vocal Flight to Beirut, COD/HearWeGo, 1996
CD Liebe Frau Bär, Short CD, Grenzland-Produktion 2006
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Quotes from Newspaper Reviews
"Texts of rare literary quality and narrative power that masterfully take up the tradition of the fairy tale but whose linguistic economy, vividness, and musicality are unmistakably modern.”
Neue Zürcher Zeitung
"The singer’s voice can do anything: fly, dance, cry, laugh, dream, pound. (…) An entrancing speech-, song- and sound-performance of great wit and charm, in which a dialogue between death and life finds a home along with a wild boar hunt and a children’s tango.”
Süddeutsche Zeitung
"One is reminded of C.G. Jung’s archetypes.”
Berliner Morgenpost
"Simple/unadorned stories of breathtaking unpredictability. And yet arising out of ordinary, workaday life.”
Berner Zeitung
"With her grotesque picture stories and cleverly weird fairy tales, Brigitte Schär has become the rising star in the Swiss children’s literature heaven.”
Neue Zürcher Zeitung
"Brigitte Schär is an amazingly talented artist. She reads, sings and stages her stories with charm and incomparable vitality and, like an oriental storyteller, casts a spell over her listening audience.”
Zürichsee-Zeitung
"Brigitte Schär plays most masterfully with surrealistic phantasies. She is a modern storyteller who carries us off into a magical world between waking and sleeping where one is never quite sure if one should long for or fear it.”
Süddeutsche Zeitung
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About the individual works
Dinosaurier im Mond (Dino in the Moon) „What I like best is for all of us to stay round the table after supper’s over, telling stories.“ ‘All of us’ being Lucy, the main character, complete with imaginary dog, as well as Mum and Dad, and two brothers. The various stories tell about a dragon putting Mum to flight; about the teacher turning into a rhino; about socks going AWOL; about Granny, whom Lucy spirits onto a trapeze, turning her into a fairground attraction; about Lucy, who all of a sudden knows how to drive a car and who gets through her mother’s daily workload in seconds flat; well, yes, and about a Sunday afternoon jaunt to outer space.
A book that offers fun galore for the whole family. "Witty and wonderfully different, philosophical and wise." Frankfurter Rundschau
Die Weihnachts-Show (The Christmas Show) One morning the Easter Bunny stands at the calendar maker’s door and explains that he would like to swap jobs with Baby Jesus. He doesn’t see why Baby Jesus should always get to have the best holiday in the year for himself… Shortly before Christmas the Easter Bunny arrives in the big city. As usual, the great Christmas Show is to be shown live on TV, the same as every year. Everything is ready: the manger, the shepherds, the ass the ox. The star drifts across the studio sky and bathes the scene in an unearthly light. And then the worldwide audience has the chance to marvel at Baby Jesus with long ears, in close-up. The audience is completely dumbfounded by his appearance. No one has ever seen a Christmas show like this one!
Geschichten vom Roll und vom Ruh (The Stories of the Roll and the Rest) The stories of the Roll and the Rest tell us about friendship, love and dispute between two scurrile, fantastic beings who are no humans but acting and feeling like humans. Roll is loud and full with temperament, Rest is gentle, dreamy and a bit timid. Together they watch a thunderstorm, bake a cake, roll down a hill, go for journeys, cuddle, are happy, unhappy and at the end, they even want to go apart. But this will not succed … Fifteen poetic stories about the joy and the suffering of being together.
Mama ist so gross wie ein Turm (Mom is big as a Tower) Mama is gigantic, beloved and strong but, unfortunately, far away. But when she finally does arrive, she lifts up the whole school house and carries it from country to country… A picture story about a child’s love and need for her mother.
Die Entführung der Welt (The Kidnapping of the World) In a huge cave word, Lena gets caught in the struggle between the one-eyed giants and the magical cave-dwellers. Whether she can solve the conflict or even decipher the secret of the kidnapped globe, remains to be seen…
Das geht doch nicht! (You can not do that!) The littlest one in the family was always a little bit different than the others. And, of course, she always had a mind of her own. Barricaded in the living room, she sat down with a pile of wood and worked day and night on a present for the family; the result went beyond their wildest expectations.
Monsterbesuch! (Visit of the Monsters!) Twenty rude and boorish monsters in the living room all at one time. The only one who can keep the peace is the unflappable narrator, who also happens to be one of the youngest in the house. She mediates between the monsters, the police, the fire department, and the horrified family. A story about courage and tolerance.
Das Haus auf dem Hügel (The House on the Hill) The same beginning to the story 13 times: A ball rolls down a hill. A little girl runs after it, but the ball disappears. The search begins. The little girl discovers the world. Magical stories about growing and growing up.
Das Schubladenkind (The Child in the Tray): For example, these stories: At the top of a tower, a curious little frog runs into a stork who answers all of the frog’s pressing questions… There is no more room for the great big hulking child in his own home… The little toothpick tries to help a fickle friend, the arrogant pipe cleaner. In these short, concise stories, the logic of fairy tales rules; they are imaginative and full of surprises.
Die blinde Fee (The Blind Fairy) “Everything has been done up the way you wanted”, say the dwarves in a disguised voice. They pretend to be good servants; but in reality the palace is falling apart. The fairy is the only one who doesn’t notice anything because she is blind. Only when she talks to an old woman one day in the woods are the fairy’s eyes opened. Armed with courage and confidence in her own strength, she returns to the palace and bans the dwarf ghosts.
Rundherum (All around) Music-CD and CD-ROM: An interactive journey through Brigitte Schär’s children’s books and sassy songs. In collaboration with musician Manuela Keller, and multi-media producer Kathrin Hug.
Auf dem hohen Seil (On the High Wire) Strange things happen in these stories. Weird events force the nameless figures to confront, above all, the difficulties of finding themselves and finding each other. Concisely and precisely formulated, the story is comprised of events that escalate quietly but continuously, reflected in language that varies ever so slightly but constantly.
Liebesbriefe sind keine Rechnungen (Loveletters are no Bills): At breakfast a rat is sitting in the breadbasket. That unpleasant scene is the beginning of a strange friendship. And it is a strange passion for music that overcomes the young man in front of his piano with the key-cover closed, that pushes him into marriage, and drives him in the end to a bloody act of desperation. Stories in a magical realm between waking and sleeping where one is never quite sure if one should run to or from it.
CD Vom Fliegen und Wildschweinjagen (About Flighing and Boarhunting) Brigitte Schär sings her literary work. 16 literary songs, here a lullabye, there Rap-sound, then the sound of a chorale, like a melancholy prayer or a cry of joy. In collaboration with musician Manuela Keller.
CD Vocal Flight to Beirut
11 songs in the no man's land between jazz, vocal improvisation, ethno,
chanson, and pop. In 1996, Brigitte Schär spent one month in Beirut
and recorded this CD in collaboration with the Dutch musician Trudy Raymakers,
Haissam Salah Eddine, and other Arab musicians.
CD Liebe Frau Bär (Dear Mrs. Bear) 3 songs about the business of
literature. Who reads all the books produced every year? The first song explores this question. Mrs Baer has written a book, now
she writes letters to the editors and gets answers back...That is the question of the second song. And the
third song: bookseller Hans is a mistery man. He wants to write a book for a woman he secretaly
admires. She passes by his shop daily. If necessary, he would force her to listen to him and to read his book.
Lisa, Paul und Frau Fisch (Lisa, Paul ans Mrs. Fish)
Lisa is a single child. She has a good time with her mum and dad. But all of a sudden she begins to experience most extraordinary things and her mum expects another baby after all.
The oddities begin when Lisa’s teacher, Mrs. Fish, seems to be having a lookalike. With this lookalike, Lisa goes on racy drives in a red sports car, visits places where baffling things happen and even meets her brother Paul!
In this mysterious story everything bears a meaning: said red car, a shooting star, a mermaid, a competition, a modern children’s push chair, a brightly painted delivery van and a doll called Carola that turns into a child. While Lisa is waiting for her brother Paul to arrive, she increasingly understands how all of these puzzling things are connected. And then, at last, Paul is born.
Brigitte Schär narrates this turbulent story in such an enthralling and powerful manner that you believe every single word! And Jens Rassmus’ beautiful illustrations convey the touching side: the abundant love with which Lisa waits for her little brother.
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Photo Gallery, Brigitte Schär live on stage
Bigger selection of download photos
Performance-tours through the whole world
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temporarily provided:
Fragen, vieler, viele Fragen
Questions, many, many questions
Text/Words
Deutsche Version für Erwachsene
Song
Deutsche Version für Erwachsene
Deutsch Version für Kinder (CD-Version)
in the book "Liebesbriefe sind keine Rechnungen"
The Blind Fairy - whole Book
Stories of the Roll and the Rest - whole Book - German and Englisch
One song with translation:
Words and voice: Brigitte Schär
Music and piano: Manuela Keller
on the CD "Vom Fliegen und Wildschweinjagen"
Audio MP4 Der Tod und das Leben
as illustrated Video -Illustrations Ulrich Zwick www.das-offene-atelier-vom-zwick.de
Words by Brigitte Schär
Translation: Sharma Swadesh
Death and Life
by Brigitte Schär
Life says to Death:
I’m afraid of you.
Death says to Life:
But you need have no fear of me
For I always come only after you.
Sometimes you come too early,
Says Life.
You don’t so much as ever knock.
Simply enter unsolicited
and throw your weight around.
But how should I be doing that, says Death.
I, who am only a skeleton.
I only do my work, as you do.
Sometimes, says Life,
I give away my creatures only unwillingly.
Sometimes you fight for them like a fury,
Says Death.
Then I am almost afraid of you.
And I admire you.
I never have to wrestle and fight for someone.
I come and wait,
until you can fight no longer
until you have overexerted and drained yourself and
until, exhausted, drained and
crying in desperation, you give your creatures up.
Then I take them with me.
It is so simple.
Sometimes, says Life,
I myself want to go with you.
Simply let all be, let all lie
and to never more have to know anything about anything.
Come with me, says Death.
It stretches its bony hand out.
I can’t, says Life.
I have no offspring. I am needed here.
Come with me,
says Death once again.
It clasps exhausted Life
in its bony arms.
And so they remain a good while
closely entwined,
Death and Life.
How warm and full of life you are,
says Death.
How good you smell.
Take me along,
says Life.
I can’t,
says Death.
And this is another youtube video.
Ulrich Zwick (illustrations) and Brigitte Schär (all voices and words) are creating since serveral years litte videos together.
This one is in English
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