Swiss-American Alternative-Pop artist Marena Whitcher is an award-winning singer, multi-instrumentalist, performer, vocal coach and voice artist.

Driven by unabashed creativity, bubbling joie-de-vivre and boundless experimental desire beyond any musical genres or rules, this emerging artist is active in the pop, jazz, music theatre and film music scene. She not only produces tones and sounds, but also pictures and stories.

Taking classical piano and ballet lessons from the early age of four, she grew up in an artistic family listening to the sounds of the Beatles, Bjork and Debussy.

Most recently, Marena released the second studio album with “Eclecta” entitled “Open Other Doors”. She is currently creating and conceptualizing a new project together with her husband Max Whitcher.

(Picture by Andrea Ebener)

Current projects

MARENA WHITCHER SOLO

MARENA + MAX WHITCHER WITH ENSEMBLE

Past projects

ECLECTA

MARENA WHITCHER'S SHADY MIDNIGHT ORCHESTRA

WHITCHER + STOCKER

BRÜT

Collaborations and Features

FILM MUSIC
Niki ReiserDani LevyMichael KünstleSabine BossMartin Bezzola

CONTEMPORARY MUSIC THEATRE
Ensemble ModernHelmut Oehring Michael WertmüllerFreie Opernkompanie Novoflot Kammerakademie Potsdam

MUSIC THEATRE ADVENTURE
Cie Corsingaudenz

INDIE CLASSICAL
Musikkollegium Winterthur

AVANT-POP / ELECTRONICA / FOLK
JPTR_EclectaFranka Town Pony PunkKlischéeBrass DepartmentSteven EliMarcel Oetiker

JAZZ
Bodan Art OrchestraZurich Jazz OrchestraSwiss Jazz OrchestraJanetts Jazzmusik-BaukastenGregor Frei ASMIN

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Credits project pictures:

Marena Whitcher Solo by Maximilian Whitcher
Marena + Max Whitcher with ensemble by Claude Hofer
Eclecta by Nicole Pfister
Marena Whitcher's Shady Midnight Orchestra by Reto Andreoli, collage by Marena Whitcher
Whitcher + Stocker by Andrea Ebener
Brüt by Andrea Ebener

2023 Nico Kaufmann Stiftung award for lyrics

2022 Nomination for the ZKB Förderpreis with WILD THINGS

2022 Moods-Aïda Alliman award

2022 Covid working stipend from the city of Zurich (Covid-Arbeitsstipendium 2022)

2021 Berti Alter Award for outstanding achievement in the Master of Arts in Music Pedagogy

2020 Art award from the canton of Zurich for her band ECLECTA

2018 Get Going! grant from “Fondation SUISA”

2016 Art award from the city of Winterthur

2015 Art award of the Academy of Arts Berlin - Marena was the first winner from the genre Jazz/Pop in the history of the prize beginning in 1948. Other prize-winners were Olivier Messiaen and Pierre Boulez

2015 Residency stipend NYC from the city of Zurich

2015 Jazz award from the IBK (International Bodensee Conference)

2015 prix netzhdk (award of the alumni organisation of the Zurich University of Arts)

2015 Nomination for the ZKB jazz award with MARENA WHITCHER'S SHADY MIDNIGHT ORCHESTRA

2014 Award of the Friedl Wald foundation

    Marena Whitcher's music is imaginal. Her approach to the stage, to music, to herself, to listeners and spectators reminds us that we have agreed to place music--as ritual--in the realm of play. She reminds us that we don’t just make music, we play music. And in Whitcher’s performance, play is like the rope of an acrobat  balanced between tightness and leeway, suspended somewhere between firm tradition and giddy irreverence.  Confident of her poise on a solid foundation, we trust her to escort us into fragility.
    Lennart Dohms, Academy of Arts Berlin

    “The compositions are intricately composed, taking exquisite care in every single detail. Dense textures are delivered in a hauntingly beautiful narrative that evokes a musical similarity to Tim Burton’s visual quirkiness. Her ability shines through everything, and one senses a devoted effort in each note.”
    Mischa Mathys, The Formant, Dear Velvet

    "Great melodies one after the other, and sudden explosions or more off-road moments (..). It is a truly unique experiment with great moments, a nice flow and an overarching theme uniting everything."
    Can this even be called music?

    "The odd or awkward moments, which incline more towards art than music, frame the work beautifully. The details are everywhere, and they become brighter and more delicate after each listen. (...) What a humbling experience it is to feel someone else’s emotions so vividly."
    D4AM

    "(…) fabulously free-spirited (…) (and) unleash a spate of inventiveness, with otherworldly images and sounds, unchained vocal performances and a unique amalgamation of genres."
    Mock The Bird

    “(Marena Whitcher) represents originality and unconditional love of experimentation”
    Stefan Künzli, Schweiz am Sonntag

    “Marena Whitcher isn't a jazz singer. Marena Whitcher is a cosmos.”
    Carine Zuber

    “Marena Whitcher now presents a debut album that simply bubbles over with originality. Singing glass harps, strumming music boxes, a touch of Dada, choral singing, theatrics, recklessness, melancholy, improvisation, avant-garde and ghost-jazz. Not recommended for the faint-hearted.”
    Ane Hebeisen, Der Bund