In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized (subject to certain rules and regulations).

Musical Theater Basel
Feldbergstrasse 151
Basel, Basel-Stadt (de), 4058
Switzerland

Alba Carbonell

Born in Valencia, Spain, Alba finished her dance studies at the Conservatorio Profesional de Danza de Riba-Roja del Turia. In 2011, she decided to experience the challenges of the international dance world and applied for a place with Ballet Basel. Ever since, she has been a permanent member of Ballet Basel, where she is now a soloist.

Alex Elliot Lockhardt

Alex is a primary school teacher from Scotland and co-founder of Outdoor Cleghorn, which offers unstructured outdoor play to primary-aged children. Growing up on a farm, Alex was imbued with a passion for the freedom and adventure that the outdoors has to offer. He also possesses first hand knowledge about the risks and rewards that such freedom brings. An educator for 14 years, he has taught in India, South Korea, Italy and Cameroon. He is married with two young children who are his inspiration: his son for his restless need for adventure and his daughter for her uncontrollable delight in being outside.

Alex Elliott Lockhart

Alex is a primary school teacher from Scotland and co-founder of Outdoor Cleghorn, which offers unstructured outdoor play to primary-aged children. Growing up on a farm, Alex was imbued with a passion for the freedom and adventure that the outdoors has to offer. He also possesses first hand knowledge about the risks and rewards that such freedom brings. An educator for 14 years, he has taught in India, South Korea, Italy and Cameroon. He is married with two young children who are his inspiration: his son for his restless need for adventure and his daughter for her uncontrollable delight in being outside.

André Klopfenstein

A trained mechanical engineer, software engineer and entrepreneur, André leads a team of professional inventors. André is a managing partner at the Swiss “Innovation Factory” Creaholic SA, where he has been a part of since 1992. He believes “innovation” is an easy word to say; but that truly effective, reliable and lasting innovation requires multidisciplinary talent.

Bruno Bieri

Bruno is a musician that often accompanies his songs with the Hang, an instrument invented in Bern. Through Nature-yodeling and overtone singing, he explores the reproduction of natural tones exemplified in alphorn and yodel singing. His concerts have taken him to India, the USA, the UK, Norway, and Saudi Arabia. Bieri is currently a freelance musician and lecturer at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland FHNW. Besides singing, Bruno’s passion is most definitely the alphorn.

Esther Keller

Esther is a writer and communication specialist. Born in Switzerland, she worked as a journalist and as a media spokesperson in Basel before she founded her own company. Being the author of the biography and a documentary about one of the world’s most famous art collectors Ernst Beyeler, she still is tracing the ways that art works impact human beings.

Florence Siegenthaler

Florence is the Communications and Media Manager at the Cooperation for Social Economy. She is passionate about Basel and sharing Basel’s alternative currency. She studied Geography, English Literature and Cultural Studies in Basel and later pursued her Masters degree in Sociolinguistics and Sustainable Development in Bern.

Georg Keller

Georg studied physics at the ETH in Zurich. Soon after finishing his studies, he was drawn to questions of neuroscience. He obtained his Ph.D. focusing on how songbirds listen to themselves sing. After a postdoc at the Max Planck Institute for Neurobiology in Munich, he became a research group leader at the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research in Basel. For the most part, his lab studies address how the brain processes sensory input and how expectations shape perception.

Josef Helfenstein

Josef studied German literature, art history, and history at the University of Geneva, and later received his doctorate at the University of Bern. He started his career at the Kunst-museum Bern and worked there nearly 17 years. After that, he left for the United States to serve as director for the Krannert Art Museum and the Kinkead Pavilion at the University of Urbana-Champaign. From 2004 until 2015, he directed the Menil Collection and Foundation in Houston, Texas. In September 2016, he was appointed director at the Kunstmuseum in Basel.

Manar Kerdy

Manar is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Basel majoring in prehistoric Archaeology. Manar grew up in the city of Aleppo, Syria where at an early age, was captivated by cultural heritage sites. He has witnessed from afar the destruction of his homeland and various national treasures.

Matthias Rippmann

Matthias has been a member of the Block Research Group (BRG) at ETH Zurich since 2010, where he received his doctorate degree. Questioning today’s wasteful and often uninspired building practices, he conducts research in the fields of structural design and digital fabrication to, ultimately, enable lighter, more resource efficient and exciting architecture. He is a dedicated open-source software developer and loves to work at the intersection of architecture, engineering and science. Matthias studied architecture in Stuttgart and Melbourne.

Mr. Marble Stompers

For a long time, Mr. C.J. Marble has been fascinated by early Blues and, luckily, he found three souls to support his passion: The Puddle Stompers. With a guitar, a six-stringbanjo, a washtub-bass and a washboard, they play a mix of Blues, Country, Swing, Stomp and something of their own. Guitar, Vocals: Mr. C.J. Marble; Six-String-Banjo Vocals: Frank the Tank Washtub-Bass, Vocals: Jimmy the Cliff Washboard, Vocals: Harry Washingberry

Mr. Marble’s Puddle Stompers

For a long time, Mr. C.J. Marble has been fascinated by early Blues and, luckily, he found three souls to support his passion: The Puddle Stompers. With a guitar, a six-stringbanjo, a washtub-bass and a washboard, they play a mix of Blues, Country, Swing, Stomp and something of their own. Guitar, Vocals: Mr. C.J. Marble; Six-String-Banjo Vocals: Frank the Tank Washtub-Bass, Vocals: Jimmy the Cliff Washboard, Vocals: Harry Washingberry

Paul Cushman

Paul is a digital media consultant who has lived and worked in 6 countries on 3 continents. A keen traveller with a love of the outdoors, Paul has also taken 2 year-long trips around the world. And when not appreciating nature or foreign cultures, Paul lives in Basel with his wife and 3 kids.

Tess Walraven

Tess is an architect currently working at Herzog & de Meuron in Basel since 2013, right after graduating from EPFL. She is of French and Dutch origin, yet born in the USA. Eager to explore various cultures, she has lived in France, Switzerland, Sweden, Colombia, Australia and Vanuatu.