1956
The Festival Orchestra is given a composition fund fed from the proceeds of its radio broadcasts. The fund makes it possible to commission and première new works from leading composers.
Herbert von Karajan conducts the opening concert with the Swiss Festival Orchestra and the final concert with the Philharmonia Orchestra.
Rudolf Baumgartner and Wolfgang Schneiderhan found the Lucerne Festival Strings from members of the masterclasses.
1954
The Philharmonia Orchestra of London gives its Festival début.
1953
Walter Strebi is appointed president of the Organizing Committee (until 1965). The artistic advisers are Rolf Liebermann, Paul Sacher and Walter Schulthess (head of the Zurich Concert Society).
The Württemberg State Opera of Stuttgart gives a guest performance of Mozart's Marriage of Figaro.
1951
The Vienna Symphony and the Vienna Singverein perform Bach's B-minor Mass, conducted by Herbert von Karajan. Ferenc Fricsay conducts the Swiss Festival Orchestra.
1950
Wilhelm Furtwängler, Ernest Ansermet, Rafael Kubelik, Bruno Walter and Herbert von Karajan conduct the Swiss Festival Orchestra.
At the instigation of Walter Strebi, the term "international" is given a broader interpretation. The festival Orchestra shall now be joined by leading orchestras from abroad.
1949
Bruno Walter conducts the Swiss Festival Orchestra for the first time.
1948
Rafael Kubelik conducts the Swiss Festival Orchestra for the first time on 11 August, as does Herbert von Karajan on 25 August.
1947
Guest performance from the English Opera Group. Benjamin Britten conducts performances of two of his operas, The Rape of Lucretia and Albert Herring. Brahms's German Requiem is performed by Wilhelm Furtwängler and the Festival Choir. Paul Hindemith conducts the Swiss Festival Orchestra.
1946
Stage production of Igor Stravinsky's L’histoire du soldat with the same sets as were used at the première. The director is Alfred Roulet, the conductor Ernest Ansermet.
1945
Five symphony concerts. Solo recitals from Dinu Lipatti, Edwin Fischer, Marcel Dupré, Georg Kulenkampff, Pablo Casals, Paul Baumgartner, Marcel Moyse and Bronislaw Hubermann.
1944
Wilhelm Furtwängler conducts his début concert in Lucerne (he will conduct the Swiss Festival Orchestral a total of 19 times in 1944 and 1947-53).
Paul Sacher conducts the Zurich Collegium Musicum in the first serenade at the Lion Monument, which becomes a symbol of the Festival.
1943
Dr. Max Wey, president of the City of Lucerne, becomes president of the Festival (until 1953). Walter Strebi becomes a member of the Organizing Committee, remaining until 1965. Rudolf Leuzinger takes over the artistic direction of the International Music Festival (IMF).
The Swiss Festival Orchestra is founded as an élite nationwide orchestra. In mid-August, 112 musicians from the whole of Switzerland meet for three weeks in Lucerne to rehearse and perform five concerts. For the first time, performing musicians in Switzerland organize and mount a renowned cultural event on their own. Robert F. Denzler conducts the début of the Festival Orchestra on 26 August. The orchestra's members include Rudolf Baumgartner, later the Festival's artistic director and head of the Lucerne Festival Strings, and the legendary Hungarian violinist Stefi Geyer. Carl Schuricht conducts a performance of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis with the Festival Choir.
The masterclasses are founded. Among the teachers are Edwin Fischer, Carl Flesch (later Wolfgang Schneiderhan as well), Enrico Mainardi, Ernest Ansermet, Herbert von Karajan, Rafael Kubelik, Arthur Honegger and Paul Hindemith.
26 August 1943: Opening concert of the International Music Festival with the first concert of the Swiss Festival Orchestra, a body of 100 outstanding musicians.
From 22 August to 11 September the orchestra gives five symphony concerts under Paul Klecki, Ernest Ansermet, Carl Schuricht and Hans Münch.
4 September 1943: Performance of Beethoven's Ninth in the Jesuit Church, with Carl Schuricht conducting his Festival début.
1942
The La Scala Orchestra gives its second guest appearance at the Festival. Hugo von Hofmannsthal's Everyman is mounted by the Lucerne Minstrels.
At the initiative of Rudolf Leuzinger, a bassoon player in the Tonhalle Orchestra and a member of the Elite Orchestra since 1939, the Swiss Association of Musicians resolves on 1 May 1942 to create an orchestra consisting of the best musicians in Switzerland and to place it at the disposal of the Lucerne Organizing Committee for the 1943 Festival. The Committee is also given responsibility for the artistic organization of any concerts it wishes to offer. As a result, the plan to form a Swiss Festival Orchestra quickly takes hold.
Lucerne Conservatory (now Musikhochschule) is founded at the instigation of Walter Strebi.
1941
The La Scala Orchestra of Milan, now underemployed, is engaged for two summers at the Lucerne Festival. Victor de Sabata conducts the first of the five symphony concerts.
Hans Pfyffer von Altishofen is appointed president of the Organizing Committee.
1940
The Festival is canceled due to the war.
1939
Arturo Toscanini conducts several concerts, including two performances of Verdi's Requiem in the Jesuit Church on 16 and 17 August, using the Festival Choir especially founded for the occasion. The program is broadcast worldwide by 72 radio stations.
1938
Ernest Ansermet conducts a concert in the 500-seat Lucerne Kursaal on 18 July. The orchestra is reinforced by members of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and the Lucerne Kursaal Orchestra. The soloist is Alfred Cortot. The concert is followed by various chamber recitals.
Arturo Toscanini conducts a Festival concert in the park at Tribschen for an audience of some 1,200 people - the first "Gala Concert." The Elite Orchestra is composed of members of the Busch Quartet, the first best string quartets in Switzerland, and such musicians as the violinist Stefi Geyer and the cellist August Wenzinger. The concert is broadcast to America, where it is relayed by 80 stations in the NBC. Two days later, the concert is repeated in the Kunsthaus. Other orchestral concerts are conducted by Fritz Busch, Bruno Walter and Willem Mengelberg.
The first Festival season includes a total of ten concerts and is managed by the Transport Commission for Lucerne and vicinity.
1937
Ernest Ansermet, seeking a summer activity for his Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, finds it in Lucerne, the Montreux of German-speaking Switzerland.
Dr. Jakob Zimmerli, President of the City, initiates the festival and is able to engage first-rate musicians, as a result of Ansermet's connections and current political events.