The establishment of the Foundation Pro Musica e Cultura goes back to a meeting between Marguerite Staehelin and Albert Roman which took place in 1992 in the United States. Marguerite Staehelin (1906–2000), a native of Basel, moved to New York following the Second World War and founded the Swiss Music Library to promote the contemporary Swiss music scene and its performers.
Albert Roman, a cellist and conductor as well as the owner of an attractive plot of land right on Lake St. Moritz, had the idea of building a house for musicians and artists on this inspiring spot. The Foundation Pro Musica e Cultura was established in December 1997 in order to enable construction of this house for artists, the Chesa da Cultura. Albert Roman supplied the Foundation with his building plot while Marguerite Staehelin provided the financial means for construction. In the winter of 1998 the Chesa da Cultura was inaugurated with an impressive concert.
Our motto for the Chesa da Cultura is “artistic communication” and “creative renewal.”