Our Divisions

World class, day in and out: Lucerne Festival hosts the finest international symphony orchestras. They join with acclaimed classical music stars and perform the great symphonic repertoire. At no other festival in the world do so many top international orchestras perform within such a short span of time.

The "Contemporary" category promotes the music of our time and offers exciting musical adventures. For we love new sounds and are setting standards for the interpretation of contemporary music with the Lucerne Festival Contemporary Orchestra (LFCO) and the Lucerne Festival Academy.

Every year, one or two composers-in-residence make their mark on the Summer Festival and introduce themselves through a showcase of their work. In recent years, these have included Michel van der Aa, Unsuk Chin, Chaya Czernowin, Fritz Hauser, Thomas Kessler, Tod Machover, Olga Neuwirth, Rebecca Saunders, Johannes Maria Staud, and Jürg Wyttenbach. In 2022, the  British artist Thomas Adès will present, among others, a new composition for the star violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter

New works by Thomas Adès, Olivia Bennett, Tyson Davis, Joy Guidry, Pengyi Li, Jinan Zhenyan Li, Liza Lim, Minzuo Lu, Aregnaz Martirosyan, Lila Wildy Quillin, Hugo Van Rechem, Julian Riem, Wolfgang Rihm, Bettina Skrzypczak, Tyshawn Sorey, Héloïse Werner, and Raimonda Žiūkaitė 

The Debut concert series concert series gives up-and-coming stars of the industry a platform to present their virtuoso skills and interpretive artistry to an international audience. Seven to eight lunchtime concerts are held each summer as part of this series. Music for Future will additionally give attention to the pre-professional level: starting in 2021, the Summer Festivals will feature performances by international youth orchestras that show how young and fresh classical music can sound.

As part of Music for Future, Lucerne Festival awards three important sponsorship prizes:

Music for Future seeks to have a double strategic impact, insofar as this commitment also applies to the audience of tomorrow, to children and young people who are given ways to make a connection with classical and contemporary music. The goal is to awaken a sense of pleasure and joy in attending concerts and to make these encounters possible.

This is accomplished through family and children's concerts, which are tailored to different age groups and offer an introduction to the world of “classical music.” The family and children’s concerts last about 45 to 60 minutes and feature topics that are delivered in entertaining, funny, or exciting ways.