Riccardo Chailly’s term as Music Director of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra has been extended until the end of 2028
Riccardo Chailly will continue his collaboration as Music Director of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra through the end of 2028. The agreement reached between Chailly and Lucerne Festival, which had previously covered performances through the summer of 2026, now also includes international tour projects and future collaborations with the Lucerne Festival Contemporary Orchestra (LFCO). Chailly will continue to lead concerts in the Spring and Summer Festivals, including the official opening.
Riccardo Chailly to remain at the helm of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra
Riccardo Chailly has served as Music Director of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra since 2016, when he succeeded Claudio Abbado. The Festival’s Executive and Artistic Director Sebastian Nordmann remarks: “I am delighted that we have been able to extend Riccardo Chailly’s tenure as Music Director of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra. This also reflects the express wish of the musicians themselves. In their acclaimed performances in recent years, it has become unmistakably clear how deeply he has grown together with the musicians and how impressively he has continued to shape the orchestra’s artistic profile – with the Rachmaninoff cycle in recent years, as well as in works by Ravel, Strauss, and Wagner.” Adds Riccardo Chailly: “With the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, after ten years of collaboration, we share not only a deep musical understanding but also a personal friendship. So it’s a joy for me to think that our relationship will continue for the next three seasons. I really look forward to our continued work together with the new Director Sebastian Nordmann as we expand our repertoire, take some risks, and embark on new musical adventures. This orchestra loves challenges – and that is a great source of inspiration for me.”
About the Lucerne Festival Orchestra
By founding the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, which gave its first public performance in August 2003, conductor Claudio Abbado and Executive and Artistic Director Michael Haefliger revived the spirit of the Lucerne Festival’s origins in 1938 – when Arturo Toscanini brought together celebrated virtuosos of his time to form a unique elite orchestra for the legendary Concert de Gala. Riccardo Chailly has served as the orchestra’s Music Director since 2016. In recent years, the podium has also been graced by such distinguished guest conductors as Herbert Blomstedt, Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Bernard Haitink, Jakub Hrůša, Andris Nelsons, Sir Simon Rattle, and Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Since 2022, the orchestra has performed not only in the summer but also each spring in Lucerne. Beyond the festival season, its members appear as soloists, hold positions in leading international orchestras, and teach at major conservatories; many also come from the ranks of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra and the Filarmonica della Scala. Claudio Abbado served as the orchestra’s Artistic Director until his death in January 2014.
Video statement by Riccardo Chailly
Kühne-Stiftung – Main Sponsor Lucerne Festival Summer & Partner Lucerne Festival Orchestra