Cadets de Genève (Geneva Cadets )

The « Cadets de Genève » is a thriving music school from Switzerland with about 200 students aged from five up to twenty. The school has had a vocation of passing on the love of music, teaching the practicalities of musical instruments and musical expression to generations of young people since its creation in 1889. To motivate and encourage youngsters in this art the Cadets play together regularly as a band, perform in public and travel internationally. When opportunities arise the cadets participate individually and collectively in competitions.

In the last 20 years the band has performed in Germany, Denmark, Canada, the USA, France, England, Italy, Sweden and Holland. It performed for the first time at the Nova Scotia International Tattoo in 2004 and the Cadets are delighted to be invited back to present a new parade in 2011.

In Switzerland the term cadet has no military connotation, it only signifies a young person, but it is not uncommon for Geneva Cadets to join the band of the Swiss army to accomplish their obligatory military service.

The school employs professional music teachers and receives financial support from the Geneva state education department and the Geneva town council. Nevertheless, it is managed as an independent association by a dedicated committee of volunteer parents who bring a special drive and enthusiasm in finding opportunities for the cadets to show off their talents in public. The committee of volunteers is led by its President, Claude Bard, who was himself once a Cadet.

Cadets are able to choose between a variety of wind instruments ranging from the big brass tuba to the tiny piccolo or they may choose to invest themselves in the side-drum and a multitude of percussion instruments.

Switzerland has a well established tradition of encouraging young people to learn and practice music by participating in village bands and larger town and city music schools. Regional and national festivals and competitions are a regular feature of cultural life. The town of Basel has organised a tattoo since 2006 which grows in size and quality each year.

The Cadets musical director, Pierre-Alain Bidaud, has dedicated his working life to teaching music and directing music schools after obtaining a trumpet masters and following conducting classes at the music academies of Lausanne and Geneva. The Cadets side-drum corps is led by the band’s parade director, Yvan Vallotton, who began his musical career as a Cadet, attended the music school of the British Royal Guard, and returned to the Geneva Cadets as a teacher and band leader.