Her fine intuition opens up to her a wealth of shades and a variety of meaning even where these remain hidden to others.” (Sofia Gubaidulina on Elsbeth Moser)

The Bern-born accordionist and extraordinarily successful teacher is one of the outstanding artists on her instrument. She studied accordion and piano at the Bern Conservatory and at the Musikhochschule in Trossingen. In 1983 she was appointed professor at the Hanover University of Music and Drama. Elsbeth Moser received an honorary professorship from the Tianjing Conservatory of Music in 1998. She is also a visiting professor at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and at the University of Pula (Croatia).
Elsbeth Moser is a pedagogue with heart and soul! Many of her students and graduates have won prizes on the international podium, both as soloists and chamber musicians. Today, she is proud to see how some of them are themselves active and successful as professors at conservatories or have embarked on wonderful musical careers. Currently, Elsbeth Moser and her class are working on the complete “Well-Tempered Clavier” by Johann Sebastian Bach together with Lajos Rovatkay.
Elsbeth Moser, who has been awarded a number of prizes (1st prizes in Evian and Annemasse in 1969 and 1972 respectively, Bernhard Sprengel Prize of the city of Hanover in 1979), received the Federal Cross of Merit from the German President Roman Herzog in 1997 for her services to establishing the accordion as a concert instrument.

Her international breakthrough came with Gidon Kremer’s invitation to Lockenhaus, where she gave the Western premiere of Sofia Gubaidulina’s “Seven Words” together with David Geringas and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen under the baton of Mario Venzago. This work, which is now part of her permanent repertoire, she subsequently performed with other great cellists such as Maria Kliegel, Karine Georgian, Heinrich Schiff, Boris Pergamenschikow, Vladimir Toncha and Torleif Tedeen, accompanied by the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, the Kremerata Baltica, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the Munich Chamber Orchestra, among others. Elsbeth Moser shares a deep friendship with Sofia Gubaidulina, who dedicated the trio “Silenzio” to her.
The accordionist has been a guest at the festivals Lockenhaus, Sigulda, Holland, Les Museiques (Basel), Riffelalp (Zermatt, Switzerland), Rheingau, Melos Ethos and “2Days-2Nights” in Odessa (Ukraine), among others. She is a co-founder of the quintet “that”, for which Sofia Gubaidulina, Vinko Globokar, Nikolaus A. Huber and others composed commissioned works. Concert tours have taken her to many countries around the world: with her long-time partner Nicolas Altstaedt, she has traveled from Baghdad to Cairo, invited by the Goethe Institute.
Her recording on ECM of works by Sofia Gubaidulina, recorded together with Boris Pergamenschikow, received the “Star of the Month with Reference Value” award from Fonoforum magazine. Sikorski Verlag published her book “Das Knopfakkordeon C-Griff, ein systematischer Weg”.