Eliana Burki, considered by many to be the ambassador the Swiss Alphorn, passed away this week at the age of 39, reported RTS.
Burki, who is from the canton of Solothurn, moved to Los Angeles and incorporated the iconic Swiss instrument into the funk and jazz music scene there describing her instrument as her “Funky Swiss Alphorn”. In the video above she can been seen performing on the beach and walking the streets of LA with the large instrument.
The musician’s Berlin-based label announced on Wednesday that the artist had died in Switzerland of a brain tumour at the age of 39. She leaves behind two young children, the youngest of whom was born last April.
The artist had played around the world, often as a cultural representative at events such as 50th anniversary of Switzerland’s EU mission in Brussels in 2010 and in 2014 during festivities in Tokyo marking 150 years of diplomatic relations between Japan and Switzerland.
More on this:
RTS article (in French) – Take a 5 minute French test now
For more stories like this on Switzerland follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
