Geneva, 10 August 2024 – From 19 July to 31 August, the most esteemed artists will congregate in Salzburg, Austria, for opera, drama and musical performances offering the broadest spectrum from classical interpretations to modern works and avant-garde experimentation.

Only the most talented performers are invited to Salzburg, where visitors can enjoy unique surroundings including the picturesque Hofstallegasse and the Baroque old city centre while savouring the sounds.

Music audiences will have the opportunity to attend a selection of extraordinary concerts at this year’s Salzburg Festival.

Rolex has been Main Sponsor of the festival since 2012, encouraging appreciation of the arts on a global scale and helping to perpetuate artistic heritage and excellence in music. Rolex and the Salzburg Festival have a mutual desire to perpetually reinvent themselves and to celebrate tradition in bringing the best of music to people the world over.

This year’s festival includes performances by Rolex Testimonee Cecilia Bartoli, a member of the Rolex family since 1994. A trailblazer, she was the first woman invited to sing in the Sistine Chapel in its over 500-year history and the first woman appointed Director of the Opéra de Monte-Carlo, a role she assumed in 2023. Since 2012 she has also been Artistic Director of the Whitsun Festival, an extension of the summer Salzburg Festival, and will be performing in Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito at the Salzburg Festival in 2024.

A Rolex Testimonee since 2017, Benjamin Bernheim – the French tenor who has quickly emerged as a rising star on Europe’s opera and concert stages – will star in Les Contes de Hoffman.

The highlight of the world’s cultural calendar will also see performances of Rolex Testimonees, Juan Diego Flórez, Gustavo Dudamel and Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

Music audiences will have the opportunity to attend a selection of extraordinary concerts at this year’s Salzburg Festival.

The Vienna Philharmonic, one of the world’s most revered orchestras, will delight festival attendees with music by Brahms, Mendelssohn, Mahler, Bruckner and Strauss. Rolex has been Exclusive Partner of this prestigious orchestra since 2008.

Another key feature of the festival is the Herbert von Karajan Young Conductors Award (YCA), one of the most important conducting competitions worldwide. This year the festival will present a concert by the YCA 2023 winner, Hankyeol Yoon. This famous Award Winners Concert is a full two-hour event and a perfect platform for the young conductor to be seen on a prestigious stage. With the objective of transmitting knowledge through the generations, Rolex has supported the YCA since 2021.

Since 1920, the Salzburg Festival has established itself as the leading festival for opera, drama and concert. The birthplace of Mozart has become the apex of artistic excellence.

PERPETUATING CULTURE
By embracing a wide range of the arts − from music, architecture and cinema to dance, literature, theatre and visual arts – Rolex confirms its long-term engagement with global culture and artistic excellence.

New Zealand soprano Dame Kiri Te Kanawa became the first artist to represent the brand as a Testimonee in 1976. Over the decades, she was joined by many of the world’s greatest musicians, artists and performers, along with celebrated institutions, festivals and orchestras.

Among the artists that Rolex partners through the Perpetual Arts Initiative are Italian mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli, French tenor Benjamin Bernheim, Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel, Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Flórez, German tenor Jonas Kaufmann, Welsh bass-baritone Sir Bryn Terfel, Mexican tenor Rolando Villazón, Bulgarian soprano Sonya Yoncheva, Yuja Wang, from China, Hélène Grimaud, from France, Canadian singer and Grammy Award-winner Michael Bublé and British-American sitarist Anoushka Shankar.

As well as the Salzburg and Whitsun festivals along with the Vienna Philharmonic, Rolex supports many of the foremost cultural institutions from around the world. They include Vienna’s own Musikverein, Teatro alla Scala in Milan, London’s Royal Opera and Ballet, the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Opéra national de Paris, the Zurich Opera, the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) in Beijing, the Opéra de Monte-Carlo and the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg.

ABOUT ROLEX
AN UNRIVALLED REPUTATION FOR QUALITY AND EXPERTISE
Rolex is an integrated and independent Swiss watch manufacture. Headquartered in Geneva, the brand is recognized the world over for its expertise and the quality of its products – symbols of excellence, elegance and prestige. The movements of its Oyster Perpetual and Perpetual watches are certified by COSC, then tested inhouse for their precision, performance and reliability. The Superlative Chronometer certification, symbolized by the green seal, confirms that each watch has successfully undergone tests conducted by Rolex in its own laboratories according to its own criteria. These are periodically validated by an independent external organization. The word ‘Perpetual’ is inscribed on every Rolex Oyster watch. But more than just a word on a dial, it is a philosophy that embodies the company’s vision and values. Hans Wilsdorf, the founder of the company, instilled a notion of perpetual excellence that would drive the company forward. This led Rolex to pioneer the development of the wristwatch and numerous major watchmaking innovations, such as the Oyster, the first waterproof wristwatch, launched in 1926, and the Perpetual rotor self-winding mechanism, invented in 1931. In the course of its history, Rolex has registered over 600 patents. At its four sites in Switzerland, the brand designs, develops and produces the majority of its watch components, from the casting of the gold alloys to the machining, crafting, assembly and finishing of the movement, case, dial and bracelet. Furthermore, the brand is actively involved in supporting the arts and culture, sport and exploration, as well as those who are devising solutions to preserve the planet.