Studio FOCE.
Space for ideas.
Studio FOCE on working with collectives, the practical work behind a night and the freedom to develop an artistic vision in Lugano.
In conversation with Michela Poretti / Studio FOCE
Before the music comes an idea and a conversation: what do you want to present, who is it for, and how can it happen? In Michela Poretti’s answers on behalf of Studio FOCE, we hear about the everyday work of a venue supporting associations and collectives with technical planning, logistics and welcoming audiences. Through Random, local proposals find a setting in which to develop. We discuss practical support for first-time organisers, the audiences sharing one room and the artistic freedom that remains with those putting on the events.
Studio FOCE is the concert hall within Lugano’s FOCE cultural centre. This conversation reflects the venue management’s perspective and its support for the groups organising events there. Answers by Michela Poretti, FOCE – City of Lugano, received by email in October 2026. The photographs show Aisha Devi’s concert at Studio FOCE on 4 October 2025.
Start with a conversation
When a collective first approaches you with an idea for an electronic music night, where does the conversation begin? What helps you understand whether the idea could find a good home at Studio FOCE?
The conversation begins with looking at the proposal and talking to the collective behind it. We want to understand the idea for the night, the background of the people proposing it and the kind of experience they want to create for the audience.
Studio FOCE is a space where associations and music groups can develop their ideas and shape new projects while retaining their own identity and creative freedom. Our role is to support that process, discussing the organisational aspects and how the proposal fits within the season’s overall programme.
It is a dialogue that brings together the proposal’s originality, its feasibility and its fit with the purpose of the venue, seeking the conditions that will allow it to take shape in the most suitable way.
Support without reshaping
Through Random, you host proposals from local groups. Is there an example of an idea that arrived at an early stage and that you helped develop? What was your practical contribution?
Rather than intervening in the artistic content, our role is to help the groups putting on nights turn their ideas into projects that can actually happen. Through Random, we mainly offer support with organisational, technical and logistical matters, discussing the organisers’ needs and the possibilities of the venue. The aim is to let them develop their idea while retaining their identity and creative freedom, without compromising the character of the space.
Our role is to help the groups putting on nights turn their ideas into projects that can actually happen.
The work behind the night
For an electronic music night, which aspects of the venue matter most when working with organisers: sound, room layout, timings or welcoming the audience? Can you tell us about a decision that made a difference?
The key aspects are those that allow the night to happen properly and safely: the technical management of sound, the organisation of the spaces, logistics, timings and welcoming the audience. Our role is to work alongside organisers on these matters, including permits, staff coordination and safety, while leaving them free to develop their artistic idea. Often it is precisely the discussion and good planning that make a difference, because they allow a creative proposal to become a night that can actually happen.
A room for curiosity
FOCE welcomes different audiences and musical approaches. Have people ever come for one event and then returned to discover a completely different night? What encourages those encounters?
The variety of the programme allows us to reach audiences with different musical interests and sometimes introduce them to things they did not know. The presence of many associations and local groups helps create a varied offering, with each organiser bringing their own identity and audience. We believe that this diversity, together with the continuity of the programme and the sharing of the same space, can encourage curiosity and open the way to new musical discoveries.
A point of reference
Looking at the electronic music scene in Lugano and Ticino, what needs do collectives most often bring to you? Is there anything you would like to make easier for people trying to organise their first nights?
The needs often concern practical and organisational matters: understanding how to run a night and finding a way through the different requirements involved in putting on an event. For people starting out, having a point of reference and someone to talk to directly can make a difference. We try to support groups and associations, responding to their needs wherever possible and making the organisational process as clear and accessible as we can, while leaving them free to develop their own artistic vision.
Studio FOCE
Interview by email · Editorial and image art direction: SCENE:ID. Divisione eventi e congressi - Città di Lugano · SCENE:ID