Biography

Taras Berchtold was born on 29.04.2001 in Suhr as a child with Ukrainian and Swiss roots. He gained his first experience with the pan flute at the age of 5 after he wished to get the instrument „with the glued together tubes” for his birthday. A pan flute - certainly an extraordinary gift for his 5th birthday, but this is how a music career can begin.

After a long search for a suitable music teacher his parent could finally find a possibillity by Mr. Bruno Gloor in Schönenwerd. From 2009 to 2015 Taras attended extra pan flute lessons with Peder Rizzi at the Zurich Conservatory in a two-week interval.

Since 2015 Taras has been learning the classical way of playing his favourite instrument with Stefan Negura from Chisinau (Moldavia) through Skype. The great inspiration and bias of Taras has always been the Romanian folklore. In the summer of 2009 he met Radu Nechifor from Sibiu (Romania) in Arosa and began to learn a lot from him. Since summer 2011 Radu teaches Taras through Skype. Taras used the opportunity to perform at the Arosa Panflute Festival every year until 2014. In summer 2013 and 2015 he also performed at the OpenAir concert in Sibiu in front of 4 000 and 15 000 people. In 2014 he had the possibility to performe at the Potsdam Music Festival (Germany). In the same year he also accompanied a CD production in Switzerland. This talented young musician has also been playing in Switzerland on various public and private occasions. For example, he gave solo concerts 2015 as well as in the summer of 2016 with a focus on "Romanian Folklore". In 2017 Taras was invited to the festival Božská flétna in Rožnov pod Radhoštěm (Czech Republic). Out of his performance there, it was made a promotional CD for the festival.

2012 he received the internationally acclaimed pan pipe award "L'esprit de Fanica Luca" and won the only two of its kind to date competitions of the Panpipe Festival in Switzerland (2012/2015). In 2016 Taras won in a competition of "World Pan Flute Association Inc." the scholarship for the «Masterclass by Zamfir's Students» in Sibiu. In November of the same year his main instrument, pan flute, was allowed for the first time to take part in the Aargau Music Competition (Switzerland) and Taras was immediately awarded for the first prize with distinction. In 2018 he was able to defend the 1st prize and even increase its worth with the maximum possible number of points. Due to these prizes, Taras was invited to perform in 2017 and 2018 at developing concerts in the canton of Aargau. At the Laupersdorfer Music Competition (Switzerland) Taras won 2017 the 1st place among all musicians in his age category inclusive the challenge trophy (as participant with the most points in the competition). In 2018 he proved that this is not a one-off event and repeated the 1st prize successfully. 2019 Taras recorded a demotape in Sibiu Romania with a professional Taraf.

Since autumn 2013 Taras has been learning piano as a second instrument. First with Teemu Holma in Gränichen, then at the gymnasium with Mrs. Verena Tschopp and since 2017 with Jean-Maurice Weder. His first success was the possibility to give performances at the Serenades of the Gymnasium «Neue Kantonsschule in Aarau».

After finishing gymnasium in 2020, Taras began his civil service while continuing to take piano classes with J. M. Weder and Prof. Schabenberger to prepare for the entrance exam to music high school. In 2022, Taras began studying at the prestigious Conservatorium van Amsterdam, further expanding his musical horizons. Now, Taras captivates audiences with his pan flute and piano performances at various concerts in the Netherlands and Switzerland.