Project description:

Superar Suisse is a Swiss non-profit established in 2012 to give children and young people free access to quality music education through orchestra and choir. Its name derives from the Latin word superar, meaning “to overcome” — and that is precisely its purpose: helping young people surmount the social, cultural and economic barriers that so often prevent access to real opportunities.

The Lugano branch opened in 2015 and has become one of Ticino’s leading voices for inclusive music education. Its orchestral program currently works with approximately 100 young musicians, whilst some 200 primary school pupils participate in introductory choir and orchestra workshops. Lessons are free and instruments are provided by the organisation at no cost. Over its first decade in Lugano, the program has worked with roughly 500 children — half of them remaining engaged for at least five years, and around 15% going on to study at a conservatoire.

The FAIR Foundation began supporting Superar Lugano in 2025, funding its school program for the 2025/2026 academic year, and regards this partnership as one of its key long-term commitments in the region. For the FAIR Foundation, Superar Lugano is far more than a single school program. It is a large-scale, long-term initiative to identify and nurture musical talent amongst children and young people across the Canton of Ticino (and Switzerland as a whole), and to ensure that serious, high-quality music education remains accessible regardless of a family’s means. This ambition is developing in two directions.

The first is geographic expansion. Under the Superar Ticino plan (2026–2031), the programme is preparing to open classes in towns where need is greatest — beginning with Chiasso, a border town facing particular social challenges. By the end of the five-year period, the goal is to establish three full orchestras across three Ticino towns (around 240 children) and six choir courses in primary schools (around 500 children), all coordinated from the Lugano headquarters.

The second is the Talent Promotion scholarship program, created for the small number of students each year who demonstrate genuine artistic potential but whose families cannot afford what comes next — conservatoire studies, lessons with specialist teachers, masterclasses, a quality instrument, or entry to competitions and auditions. The idea is straightforward: only talent, dedication and passion should determine whether a young musician gets that chance, not what their parents can afford.

Beyond classroom instruction, Superar Lugano creates space for projects of another kind: a parents’ orchestra, weekly workshops in state primary schools, a partnership with the Red Cross bringing music to young people in local reception centers.