Jenny Emniger is 16, wears ripped jeans, listens to show music – and loves to sing.
On her grandfather’s birthday, Jenny Emmenegger automatically joins her cousins and jogs with her – although she can’t really do it, because she’s laughing. It is now clear to everyone that she can do it after all: Last November, the student from Obbürgen NW won the 2022 Folklore Competition in the yodelling category. Without any instrumental accompaniment, the jury and the audience are touched by “cancel joys.”
The young woman, who will start an apprenticeship as a dental assistant in the summer, stresses that it is not about winning for her. “It’s nice to be able to touch people and feel my feelings. That’s my goal.”
Young, fresh and modern – Jenny Emniger does not fit into the typical Alpine yodel image. We confronted them with four cliches about yodelling.
First cliché: if you sing, you can’t sing
Jenny couldn’t help but shake her head: “That’s definitely not true.” After all, yodelling is singing without words, but with a large tonal range and quick changes between head and chest sounds. Anyone who yodels should control their voice well and also have plenty of yodels Memorizing melodies without words.
Second cliché: only old people are interested in singing
Here, too, is a straightforward “It’s not right” from Jenny Emnegger. She is not only the living counter example, but also all the other children and young people who participated in the Youth Folklore Competition. Although she is the only one in her circle of friends who has a traditional hobby. “But my colleagues think he’s great and come to my shows and support me.” At yodelling parties, you sometimes imagine that there are more young people than old people. Incidentally, twenty young yodeling choirs will perform at the Swiss Yodelling Festival 2023.
Third cliché: Anyone who yodels has no taste in music
Of course, no one wants to be told that. So is Jenny Emniger. You listen to a wide variety of music, not only yodelling, but also, for example, the current pop music that is being played on the radio. Anyway, she’s not interested in what other people have said about her taste in music: “They have no idea,” she says with a wink.
Fourth cliche: Anyone who jogs is only dressed in traditional costumes
This is often the case during performances, but Jenny’s own clothes are no different from those of her classmates. She often wears ripped jeans that her grandmother would like to see patched up, she says, laughing. “It’s fashion, I think it’s beautiful.”
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