Audemars Piguet And MJF - Safegarding A Musical Heritage

More than 5,000 hours of video footage of the Montreux Jazz Festival (MJF), and artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis, Phil Collins and David Bowie will be saved and immortalised by the launch of the Montreux Sounds Digital Project. The Audemars Piguet Manufacture, Montreux Sounds SA, the company that manages the festival’s audiovisual archives, and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) are uniting their efforts to transform this unique heritage into a top-class digital resource for future generations.

For Audemars Piguet, the Montreux Sounds Digital Project is in perfect harmony with the values of tradition, excellence and audacity that the watchmaking Manufacture has promoted since its creation in 1875. "We are especially proud to support this great cultural adventure and to participate in the writing of a new page in the history of music, which will leave a remarkable audiovisual record for future generations" explains Philippe Merck, CEO, Audemars Piguet. The digitalisation of this masterful work, which requires the best in innovative techniques and the most recent in R&D developments, has managed to conserve its DNA and the authenticity of exceptional moments. This enormous digitalisation programme has become a reality thanks to Claude Nobs (MJF creator) and his passion for this invaluable musical heritage, and to Patrick Aebischer (EPFL president) and the expertise of his engineers who have managed to develop appropriate technological and scientific solutions to magnify the concerts of these eternal artists.

According to Quincy Jones, an ambassador of the project since its beginnings, as well as a faithful festival follower and longstanding friend of the Manufacture Audemars Piguet: "This is the most important legacy in the history of music, ranging from jazz to blues through gospel, rock, Latin, Brazilian, African or folk music, to name but a few."

January 26, 2011