1981
Ulrich Meyer-Schöllkopf, director of the Lucerne City Theater and principal conductor of the AML Orchestra, was appointed the Festival's artistic director (until 1992).
The Board of Trustees receives support from an advisory committee consisting of Paul Sacher, Rafael Kubelik and Vladimir Ashkenazy.
Festival theme: Rumania and Hungary.
The Perspectives Series receives a new name: "The Composer and His World." The first series is devoted to the Swiss composer Rudolf Kelterborn.
1980
Festival theme: Poland.
Perspectives Series with Krzysztof Penderecki. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the European Community Youth Orchestra give their Festival débuts.
1979
Werner Bühlmann is appointed president of the Festival (until 1988), and Hans Rudolf Meyer Honorary President. Festival theme: Italy. The Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Staatskapelle Dresden give their Festival débuts.
1978
Othmar Fries is appointed the Festival's administrative director (until 1988).
Double anniversary: 800 years of the city of Lucerne, and 40 years of the Lucerne International Festival of Music.
The Perspectives Series features the Tcherepnin family.
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra gives its Festival début.
1977
Festival theme: Scandinavian Music (Sibelius, Grieg, Nielsen, Kokkonen).
The Perspectives Series features Joonas Kokkonen. The first "Concert for Senior and Handicapped Citizens" is held under the aegis of the Lucerne Civic Council, supported by the Migros Federation of Cooperatives.
1976
Festival theme: Spain.
The Perspectives Series features Wladimir Vogel.
Anne-Sophie Mutter (age 13) gives her Festival début.
1975
Festival themes: Ravel and Bartók.
The Perspectives Series features Witold Lutoslawski.
The Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra gives its Festival début.
1974
Festival theme: the Second Viennese School.
The Perspectives Series features György Ligeti.
1973
Rudolf Baumgartner is appointed director of Lucerne Conservatory and artistic director of the Festival.
Festival theme: Music by Swiss Composers. The Perspectives Series is devoted to Klaus Huber. Silvio Varviso conducts Arthur Honegger's Le Roi David with the Festival Chorus.
Instead of the Clara Haskil Competition, which relocates to Vevey (the pianist's place of residence), the Festival introduces matinées designed to launch the careers of ambitious young artists.
1972
Festival theme: Igor Stravinsky (90th birthday).
Karlheinz Stockhausen is the guest of the Perspectives Series.
The Concertgebouw Orchestra gives its Festival début.
1971
Hans Rudolf Meyer is appointed president of the Festival (until 1978).
Festival theme: Music of Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Russia.
Performance of Utrenja by Krzysztof Penderecki.
The Perspectives Series is devoted to Iannis Xenakis.
1970
Rudolf Baumgartner is appointed the Festival's artistic director (until 1980).
The Festival is reorganized: the formerly voluntary directorship is replaced by a professional body.
The International Music Festival Foundation is established on 19 May 1970, with the Foundation Council serving as its governing body. The board of management consists of president, vice-president, treasurer and two directors.
For the first time the Festival program is devoted to a guiding theme, in this case the music of Ludwig van Beethoven in his bicentennial year. All nine Beethoven symphonies are compared and contrasted with modern works.
The Musica Nova concerts are complemented by a new series entitled Perspectives, the forerunner of the present composer-in-residence series. This year's Perspectives Series is devoted to Mauricio Kagel.